EDUCATION  DEFT, 


*sr0Ctyt 


(U.A 


AN 


INTEODUCTION 


STUDY  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 

(375-8U). 


EPHEAIM  EMERTON,  Ph.D., 

Professor  or  History  in  Harvard  University. 


>**<= 


BOSTON,  U.S.A.: 

PUBLISHED   BY   GINN   &   COMPANY. 

1892. 


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tf>  ^ 


'•  •••  •     •  •  •  •• 


\*  :  .•*  I  *  ••     It..!  Ctfujright, 

By  Ephraim  Emekton, 

1888. 

eouCATJON  DEf^f 


Typography  by  J.  8.  Cushing  &  Co.,  Boston,  U.S.A. 
Presswork  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  Boston,  U.S.A. 


WHO  MADE  THE   SCHOLAR'S  LIFE  POSSIBLE  FOR  ME 

I  DEDICATE   THIS   BOOK. 


961637 


PREFACE. 


The  period  of  time  of  which  this  book  treats  is  that  lying 
between  the  greatest  splendor  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the 
beginning  of  what  may  properly  be  called  the  Middle  Ages. 
It  is  a  period  which  has  often  been  passed  over  lightly  by 
historians  or  dismissed  with  a  sneer  as  the  Dark  Ages  of  the 
world.  And  this  was  done  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  perhaps 
the  greatest  historian,  all  things  considered,  who  has  ever 
written  in  the  English  language,  chose  just  this  period  for  his 
theme.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  very  title  of  Gibbon's 
great  work  ma}-  have  done  its  part  toward  creating  a  false 
impression  of  the  time  he  describes.  If  one  comes  to  our 
period  as  a  time  of  Decline  and  Fall  merely,  one  can  hardly 
fail  to  carry  away  from  the  study  of  it  a  depressing  sense  of 
gloom  and  wretchedness.  Gibbon  himself,  great  historian 
as  he  was,  did  not  succeed  in  avoiding  this  danger.  His 
splendid  narrative  is  on  the  whole  a  mournful  one.  We  feel 
ourselves  to  be  dealing  with  the  wild  movements  of  men, 
either  half  brutal  or  wholly  brutalized.  We  see  a  magnifi- 
cent edifice  crumbling  to  decay,  but  we  are  not  impressed 
with  the  elements  of  life  contained  in  this  very  process. 

It  is  only  when  we  realize  that  this  is  a  period  of  decay 


vi  PREFACE. 

only  in  the  sense  in  which  the  leaf  decays,  that  it  may  make 
the  ground  fruitful  for  more  abundant  life,  that  we  are  able 
to  see  its  true  meaning.  If  we  can  do  this,  then  what  had 
before  seemed  blind  forces  of  destruction  become  agents  work- 
ing together  in  the  making  of  a  new  and  fairer  civilization. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  dwell  upon  these  elements 
of  construction,  to  show  how  they  originated,  and  how  they 
were  tending  to  produce  the  life  of  the  great  period  which 
was  to  follow. 

These  forces  were  chiefly  three :  First,  the  organized 
Christian  Church,  and  especially  that  part  of  it  which  had 
come  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  papacy ; 
second,  the  Germanic  races,  coming  in  upon  the  soil  of 
Rome,  taking  possession  of  the  Roman  land,  subjecting  the 
Roman  population  to  their  political  control,  but  in  their  turn 
taking  up  the  religion,  the  language,  and  the  customs  of  the 
conquered ;  third,  the  domination  of  the  Frankish  race  over 
all  the  other  Germanic  nations  of  the  continent.  The  history 
of  these  three  lines  of  development  finds  its  natural  culmina- 
tion in  the  union  of  the  Frankish  kingdom  with  the  Roman 
papacy  under  the  form  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire. 

The  sources  of  information  for  our  period  are  meagre  and 
difficult  both  to  decipher  and  to  understand.  The  result  of 
this  has  been  that  there  is  hardly  any  subject  within  the 
range  of  our  study  upon  which  there  are  not  many  and  wide 
differences  of  opinion  among  scholars.  It  has,  of  course, 
not  been  possible  to  go  into  these  controversies,  but  the 
effort  has  been  made  to  let  the  pupil  see  that  the  information 
here  given  is  not  of  the  kind  which  he  would  find  in  a  mathe- 


PREFACE.  vii 

matical  treatise,  but  is  subject  to  correction  whenever  a  bet- 
ter light  can  be  thrown  upon  it. 

It  has  further  not  been  forgotten  that  this  is  an  "  Introduc- 
tion," designed  to  lead  the  student  to  search  for  himself  into 
the  history  of  a  later  period. 

The  author  is  under  obligations  to  many  friends  for  their 
interest  and  their  help.  Especially  to  Professor  G-.  P. 
Fisher  and  Mr.  E.  G.  Bourne  of  Yale  University,  to  Pro- 
fessor E.  B.  Andrews  of  Brown  University,  and  Professor 
W.  F.  Allen  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  his  thanks  are 
due  for  very  many  useful  suggestions  and  corrections  which 
have  added  much  to  the  value  of  the  book.  The  chapters 
on  law  and  the  feudal  system  had  the  advantage  of  correc- 
tion by  the  late  Professor  Ernest  Young  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, whose  lamented  death  is  a  serious  loss  to  American 
scholarship. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Preface v 

Suggestions  to  Teachers xi 

CHAPTER. 

I.     The  Romans  to  A.D.  375 1 

II.    The  Two  Races 11 

III.  The  Breaking  of  the  Frontier  by  the  Visigoths,  22 

IV.  Vandals  and  Burgundians 35 

V.    Invasion  of  the  Huns 41 

VI.     The  Germans  in  Italy. 

a.  Fall  of  the  Western  Empire 48 

6.  The  Ostrogothic  Kingdom 52 

c.    The  Lombard  Kingdom 57 

VII.    The  Franks  to  638 60 

VIII.     Germanic  Ideas  of  Law 73 

IX.    Rise  of  the  Christian  Church 92 

X.    Franks  and  Mohammedans. 

Dagobert  to  Charles  Martel 114 

XI.    The  Monks  of  the  West 135 

XII.    The  Franks  from   Charles  Martel  to  Charle- 
magne    150 

XIII.  Charlemagne  King  of  the  Franks 180 

XIV.  Foundation  of  the  Mediaeval  Empire 214 

XV.    The  Beginnings  of  the  Feudal  System 236 

Chronological  Table 257 


MAPS. 


PAGES 

1.  The    Rhine-Danube    Frontier    before    the    Great 

Migration 10-11 

2.  Lines  of  March  of  the  Germanic  Peoples  ....  34-35 

3.  The  Germans  in  the  Empire 68-59 

4.  The  Frankish  Kingdom  under  the  Merovingians     .  114-115 

5.  The  Frankish  Kingdom  under  the  Carolingians  .     .  180-181 

6.  Church  Centres  of  Europe  in  the  Time  of  Char- 

lemagne   214-215 


INTRODUCTION. 


SUGGESTIONS   TO   TEACHERS. 

This  book  is  not  intended  to  do  away  with  the 
teacher.  On  the  contrary,  it  rests  upon  the  conviction 
that  a  text-book  of  history  is  valuable  only  as  it  helps 
and  is  helped  by  the  teacher's  work.  Nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  it  intended  to  be  a  pocket-encyclopsedia  for  the 
period  it  covers.  It  aims  to  present  a  narrative  which 
can  be  read  and  studied  by  an  intelligent  pupil,  who 
already  knows  something  of  Roman  history,  without 
weariness  and  without  confusion,  and  which  shall  also 
open  to  both  teacher  and  pupil  an  outlook  over  a  wider 
field  than  it  can  itself  occupy. 

If  the  author  had  not  believed  that  a  book  might  do 
something  to  show  these  wider  relations  of  history,  he 
would  not  have  wasted  his  time  upon  these  pages,  but 
he  must  frankly  admit  that  the  usefulness  of  his  book 
will  depend  almost  entirely  upon  the  tact  and  enthusi- 
asm of  the  teacher  who  uses  it. 

All  historical  instruction  must  rest  upon  two  foun- 
dation-stones, —  Geography  and  Chronology.  Without 
these  it  is  merely  floating  about  in  space  and  time. 

Geography.  —  Let  all  historical  geography  rest  upon 
physical  geography,  and  never  fail  to  bring  it  back  to 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

that.  The  too  common  habit  of  bounding  one  country 
by  others  tends  to  make  pupils  forget  the  natural  fea- 
tures of  the  earth's  surface,  and  they  must  be  constantly 
reminded  of  them.  It  would  be  well  if  they  could  be 
led  always  to  describe  the  situation  of  peoples  and 
places  by  reference  to  these  natural  features.  This  is 
of  especial  importance  in  a  period  in  which  the  races 
are  constantly  changing  their  homes  and  forming  new 
political  boundaries.  If  the  student  has  not  the  "  lay 
of  the  land  "  clearly  in  his  mind,  he  will  be  in  hopeless 
confusion. 

The  best  way  to  keep  these  natural  features  perma- 
nently before  the  pupil,  is  to  require  him  to  draw  maps. 
By  using  the  outline  maps  of  Europe,  which  can  be  had 
at  very  small  expense  from  the  publishers  of  this  book, 
he  will  readily  become  accustomed  to  the  fixedness  of 
the  surface  lines  and  the  variableness  of  the  political 
boundaries.  He  will  see  how  much  or  how  little  the 
latter  depend  upon  the  former,  and  will  soon  come  to 
have  his  own  ideas  about  them.  Let  him  draw  the  out- 
line of  the  states  of  Europe  at  frequent  intervals,  e.g. 
the  Roman  Empire  before  375,  Europe  at  the  year 
500,  the  lines  of  march  of  the  Germanic  peoples,  the 
kingdom  of  Dagobert  (628),  Europe  at  the  time  of 
Charlemagne,  and  so  on.  Wherever  an  event  is  men- 
tioned by  which  the  map  of  Europe  was  changed,  let 
him  draw  that  change  for  himself.  At  first  he  may  be 
allowed  to  copy  his  lines  from  some  other  map,  but  he 
will  soon  learn  to  draw  his  own  lines  from  oral  descrip- 
tion. The  sense  that  he  is  making  maps  for  himself 
will  rouse  his  pride  and  increase  his  interest.  For  ordi- 
nary purposes  the  maps  here  given  will  suffice,  but  a 


INTRODUCTION.  x[[[ 

larger  historical  atlas  should  always  be  at  hand  for 
reference. 

There  is  no  really  good  historical  atlas  in  English. 
The  best  are  those  of  Keith  Johnston  and  Labberton. 
Much  better  is  a  French  atlas  by  Drioux  and  Leroy. 
Best  of  all  for  the  student's  use  is  the  recent  German 
work  of  Droysen.  The  great  atlas  of  Spruner  gives  an 
enormous  amount  of  detail,  but,  for  that  very  reason,  is 
very  difficult  for  the  ordinary  student  to  find  his  way  in. 

The  teacher  will  find  much  of  value  in  Freeman's 
"  Historical  Geography,"  and  in  Himly's  "  Histoire  de 
la  Formation  Territoriale  des  Etats  de  l'Europe  Cen- 
trale." 

Chronology.  —  It  is  equally  important  that  a  certain 
number  of  dates  should  be  learned  accurately  and  solidly. 
The  danger  here  is  that  too  much  may  be  required,  and 
the  pupil's  mind  be  thus  burdened  with  a  mass  of  in- 
formation, the  meaning  of  which  he  cannot  understand. 
Require  at  first  but  few  dates,  but  let  these  be  such 
as  mark  great  crises  of  history.  Others  may  then  be 
grouped  about  these,  and  will  never  be  forgotten  so 
long  as  the  central  dates  are  remembered.  Do  not  ask 
pupils  to  learn  lists  of  rulers,  because  rulers  have  not 
generally  been  the  most  important  makers  of  history. 
It  may  be  urged  that  the  names  of  rulers  form  conven- 
ient pegs  on  which  to  hang  our  historical  knowledge, 
but  we  can  generally  find  better  pegs.  For  example, 
when  did  Alaric  the  Visigoth  sack  Rome  ?  One  answer 
might  be,  uIn  the  reign  of  Honorius."  And  if  we 
knew  the  dates  for  the  reign  of  Honorius,  we  should  of 
course  be  able  to  remember  pretty  nearly  when  Rome 
was  sacked;  but  the  fact  is,  that  Honorius  was  one  of 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

the  least  important  persons  in  the  Roman  Empire,  while 
Alaric  was,  for  the  time,  the  most  important.  It  would 
be  well,  therefore,  to  fix  permanently  in  the  mind  the 
date  when  Alaric  sacked  Rome,  and  trust  to  our  general 
knowledge  to  remember  that  at  that  time  the  nominal 
ruler  of  the  western  world  chanced  to  be  named  Ho- 
norius  the  son  of  Theodosius. 

A  mistaken  zeal  in  this  matter  of  dates  has  probably 
been  the  main  cause  of  the  disgust  felt  by  most  pupils 
who  have  been  taught  history  by  the  old  methods. 
The  dates  to  be  learned  by  heart  should  be  learned 
carefully,  and  be  continually  referred  to  as  the  fixed 
points  in  the  pupil's  knowledge.  He  should  repeat 
them  and  write  them  very  often,  and  should  be  made 
to  form  his  own  chronological  tables  by  filling  in  be- 
tween these  fixed  points  such  other  dates  and  events 
as  he  is  likely  to  remember,  and  no  others.  More  dates 
have  been  given  in  this  book  than  ought  to  be  learned 
by  heart.  They  have  been  given  in  order  to  show  the 
continuity  of  the  narrative.  Such  as  ought  to  be 
learned  at  once  and  never  forgotten  are  printed  in 
bolder  type. 

An  indispensable  book  for  every  historical  student  is 
Tillinghast's  translation  of  Ploetz's  Epitome  of  Univer- 
sal History.  Larger,  and  giving  a  more  continuous  nar- 
rative, with  very  valuable  bibliography,  maps,  and  chap- 
ters upon  the  history  of  civilization,  is  Dr.  G.  P.  Fisher's 
"  Outlines  of  Universal  History."  Haydn's  Dictionary 
of  Dates  may  be  kept  for  occasional  reference. 

Memorizing.  —  How  much  of  the  text-book  ought  to 
be  committed  to  memory  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  of   elementary  education.     My  own  answer 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

would  be,  "  only  that  should  be  learned  by  heart  which 
is  fitted  to  become  a  permanent  mental  possession," 
and  that  surely  cannot  be  claimed  for  the  words  of 
this  book.  It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  committing  a 
thing  to  memory  makes  it  one's  own.  We  really  own 
only  that  which  we  have  made  our  own  by  putting  it 
through  the  machinery  of  our  own  minds.  The  memo- 
rizing of  another's  words  can  give  us  only  the  skeleton 
of  his  ideas.  If  we  would  really  understand  him,  we 
must  work  over  for  ourselves  what  he  has  given  us. 
So  in  learning  history  one  must  memorize  only  the 
skeleton  of  the  story,  and  must  clothe  this  with  flesh 
and  blood  by  means  of  his  own  powers  of  assimilation. 
The  pupil  should  be  required,  not  to  learn  the  words  of 
this  book,  by  heart,  but  to  reproduce  its  contents  orally 
or  in  writing,  as  the  teacher  may  require.  This  caution, 
which  is  happily  superfluous  for  many  teachers,  is  un- 
fortunately still  necessary  in  too  many  cases.  Let  the 
memory  be  called  upon  for  dates,  facts  of  geography, 
whatever  is  worth  being  retained  verbally  in  the  mind, 
and  where  it  is  called  upon,  let  the  demand  be  strictly 
enforced.  But  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  if  the 
pupil  once  comes  to  think  that  studying  history  means 
memorizing  isolated  facts,  he  is  lost  forever  to  the 
cause  of  historical  learning. 

Collateral  Reading-.  —  This  book  can  be  of  little  use 
to  a  teacher  who  has  not  carefully  studied  the  period 
from  more  detailed  sources  of  information.  A  text- 
book ought  to  be  a  book  of  texts,  upon  which  the 
teacher  can  base  his  independent  work.  If,  however, 
this  wider  knowledge  must  largely  be  gathered  by  the 
way,  the  books  recommended  should  be  so  read  as  to 


x  yi  INTR  OB  UC  TION. 

furnish  the  most  abundant  illustration  of  the  topic  im- 
mediately under  treatment. 

The  pupil  should  be  encouraged  to  read  whatever 
bears  upon  the  period.  Poems,  plays,  novels,  as  well  as 
more  detailed  histories,  should  be  put  in  his  way,  and  he 
should  be  helped  to  understand  what  he  reads.  He 
should  be  required  to  read  passages  in  larger  historical 
works  or  articles  in  encyclopedias,  and  to  report  to  the 
teacher  in  writing  whatever  adds  to  the  narrative  here 
given.  He  will  thus  learn  the  greatest  lesson  of  all 
historical  study,  that  history  is  not  "  all  in  the  book," 
but  is  to  be  learned  from  a  great  variety  of  sources. 
The  present  increased  interest  in  historical  study  is  due 
mainly  to  the  enforcement  of  this  principle. 

The  most  valuable  sources  of  information  on  this 
subject  are  the  publications  of  our  great  libraries,  such 
as  the  Boston  Athenaeum,  Boston  Public,  and  Harvard 
University.  The  Boston  Public  Library  Catalogue  of 
Fiction  is  very  complete  and  useful. 

Sources.  —  The  whole  period  of  our  study  is  one  of 
the  greatest  literary  depression.  The  Roman  popula- 
tions had  lost  their  desire  and  their  power  for  literary 
production,  and  the  Germanic  peoples  had  not  yet 
learned  how  to  express  themselves  in  writing.  As  long 
as  Rome  had  been  steadily  rising  in  power,  her  educated 
men  had  been  proud  to  write  of  her  splendid  achieve- 
ments, and  even  after  Rome  had  ceased  to  conquer  and 
yet  was  able  to  hold  her  own,  the  same  impulse  had 
gone  on.  Roman  writers,  trained  in  the  best  schools, 
both  of  Greece  and  Rome,  still  kept  up  to  a  high  stand- 
ard of  literary  taste. 

But  when  the  sun  of  Rome  began  to  set,  when  along 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 

til  her  borders  the  barbarian  was  pressing  more  and 
more  violently  for  admittance,  and  when  it  became 
clear  that  he  would  no  longer  be  denied,  then  literature 
in  its  turn  began  to  feel  the  effects  of  the  long  strain. 
The  old  heroic  spirit  died  out  of  Roman  writing.  In 
its  place  came  the  vulgar  and  fulsome  panegyric  of 
men,  whose  chief  merit  was  that  they  had  known  how 
for  a  moment  to  put  off  the  inevitable  destruction. 
And  all  this  only  grew  worse  and  worse  as  men  came 
to  turn  their  abilities  and  their  learning  more  and  more 
to  the  service  of  the  Church.  All  the  best  minds  from 
the  third  century  on  were  concerned  more  to  discover 
the  true  meaning  of  the  articles  of  belief  than  to  ex- 
plore the  history  of  their  times  or  to  give  free  play  to 
the  imagination  in  works  of  poetry  or  the  drama. 

We  are  concerned  only  with  the  effect  of  this  liter- 
ary dulness  upon  the  writing  of  history.  The  list 
of  historians  from  Valens  to  Charlemagne  is  meagre 
enough.  In  that  whole  period  of  about  four  hundred 
years  there  is  about  a  score  of  names  worthy  of  men- 
tion, but  not  half  of  these  have  any  real  claim  to  the 
title  of  historian.  They  are  mainly  gleaners  of  anec- 
dotes, with  little  sense  of  true  historical  accuracy  and 
little  power  of  clear  and  vivid  presentation.  The  rise 
and  development  of  a  new  mediaeval  historical  litera- 
ture will  be  traced  in  the  chapters  upon  Frankish 
history. 

No  attempt  has  here  been  made  to  give  anything  like 
a  full  list  of  books  upon  our  period.  Only  such  have 
been  named  as  are  either  especially  useful  in  them- 
selves or  have  the  negative  merit  of  being  accessible. 
Books  in  foreign  languages  have  generally  been  men- 


Xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

tioned  only  when  there  are  none  of  value  in  English  on 
the  given  topic. 

The  following  works  will  be  found  serviceable  during 
the  whole  course  of  the  book :  — 

Edward  Gibbon :  The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
8  vols.  In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  subject 
during  the  hundred  years  since  it  appeared,  the  work  of  Gibbon 
remains  a  splendid  monument  of  industrious  research,  of*  pro- 
found historical  insight,  and  of  vivid  presentation. 

J.  G.  Sheppard :  The  Fall  of  Rome  and  the  Rise  of  the  New  Nation- 
alities. Lond.  &  N.Y.  1861.  Lectures  covering  just  our  period ; 
diffuse,  but  useful  to  the  careful  student. 

William  Robertson  :  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Charles  V.  A 
brilliant  picture  of  early  European  History,  needing  correction 
at  many  points  from  the  results  of  later  scholarship. 

Laurent :  Histoire  de  l'humanite.  Vols.  5,  6,  7.  1857.  A  philo- 
sophical examination  into  the  history  of  this  period.  Valuable 
for  a  general  grasp  of  the  whole  subject. 

T.  H.  Dyer :  The  City  of  Rome,  its  vicissitudes  and  monuments 
from  its  foundation  to  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages,  —  with  re- 
marks on  the  recent  excavations.     Lond.  1883. 

E.  A.  Freeman :  The  Chief  Periods  of  European  History.  Six 
Lectures.     Lond.  1886. 

C.  J.  Stille :  Studies  in  Mediaeval  History  (early  chapters).     Phil. 

1882. 
Geffcken :    Church  and  State.     Transl.  and  ed.  by  E.  F.  Taylor. 

2  vols.     Lond.  1877.     A  careful  review  of  the  relation  of  the 

Church  power  to  the  State,  especially  in  mediaeval  and  modern 

Europe. 
A.  M.  Curteis :  History  of  the  Roman  Empire  from  the  death  of 

Theodosius  the  Great  to  the  coronation  of  Charles  the  Grc>t. 

Lond.  &  Phil.  1875.    A  short  study  of  our  period  from  the  point 

of  view  of  Rome. 
W.  Assmann :  Geschichte  des  Mittelalters.     2  vols.     1875-79.     Of 

especial  value  for  the  study  of  materials. 

F.  P.  G.  Guizot :  History  of  Civilization  in  France. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  ROMANS  TO   A.D.    375. 

Modern  Works  :  —  Theodor  Mommsen :  History  of  Romev  6  vols. 

—  Wilhelm  Ihne :  History  of  Rome.  5  vols.  Lond.  1871. — 
J.  V.  Duruy:  History  of  Rome  and  the  Roman  People  from  its 
origin  to  the  establishment  of  the  Christian  Empire.  Ed.  J.  P. 
Mahaffy.  Trans,  by  Mr.  Clarke  and  Miss  Ripley.  6  vols,  in  12 
pts.  Lond.  1884.  Illus. — Charles  Meri vale :  History  of  the  Ro- 
mans under  the  Empire.  7  vols  in  4.  N.Y.  1880.  —  R.  F.  Leigh- 
ton  :  History  of  Rome.  N.Y.  —  Goldwin  Smith  :  The  Greatness 
of  Rome.  Tn  his  Lectures  and  Essays.  1881.  —  A.  Neander: 
The  Emperor  Julian  and  his  Generation.  Trans,  by  I.  G.  V. 
Cox.  N.Y.  1850. — L.  Friedlander:  Sittengeschichte  Roms. 
5th  ed.     3  vols.     1881. 

The  following  numbers  of  the  "  Epoch  "  Series  :  — 

Wilhelm  Ihne  :  Early  Rome.  —  R.  B,  Smith  :  Rome  and  Carthage. 

—  A.  H.  Beesley:  The  Gracchi,  Marius  and  Sulla.  —  W.  W. 
Capes:    The   Early  Empire   from  Julius  Caesar  to  Domitian. 

—  W.  W.  Capes :  The  Roman  Empire  of  the  second  century, 
or  The  Age  of  the  Antonines. 

The  two  peoples  with  whom  we  are  to  deal  in  this 
book  are  the  Romans  and  the  Germans,  The  Aryan 
branches  of  the  Aryan  or  Indo-European  race' 
race  of  men.  There  were  eight  principal  branches  of 
this  race,  five  of  which  had  their  homes  in  Europe,  and 
three  in  Asia.  It  is  generally  believed  that  at  some  very- 
distant  time,  so  far  away  that  we  have  no  record  of  it, 
these  different  branches  all  formed  one  people  and  lived 


Z  1UY  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375. 

somewhere,  in  Western  Asia,  between  the  valley  of  the 
{£«p>i'a.te3  and  «tdie  valley  of  the  Indus.  Then,  still 
before  any  written  history,  the  race  moved  away  from 
its  home,  find  one  part  of  it  passed  westward,  probably 
by  way  of  the  opening  between  the  Ural  Mountains  and 
the  Caspian  Sea,  into  Europe ;  another  remained  settled 
in  the  Tigris-Euphrates  valley;  while  a  third  part  went 
to  the  east  and  south,  down  the  Indus,  into  the  valley 
of  the  Ganges.  This  branch  became  the  great  Indian 
race,  which  used  the  Sanskrit  language,  and  which  has 
preserved  in  its  literature  some  traces  of  its  wanderings. 
The  second  group  comprised  the  Medes  and  the  Per- 
sians, who  successively  controlled  the  Euphrates  coun- 
try and  whose  descendants  live  there  to  this  day.1 
The  European  Of  the  five  branches  into  which  the  Euro- 
branches,  pean  portion  divided,  the  Kelts  seem  to  have 
been  in  the  advance  and  were  probably  pushed  by 
the  others  towards  the  west  until  they  came  to  live 
in  the  British  Islands,  in  France,  and  Spain.  Next  be- 
hind them  were  the  Germans,  who  filled  in  all  the 
central  part  of  Europe,  from  the  Alps  northward  to  the 
sea  and  spread  out  over  the  coasts  of  Scandinavia. 
Beyond  the  Germans,  to  the  east,  were  the  Slavs,  a 
race  which  has  never  formed  a~united  government  tor 
itself,  but  has  mingled  with  other  races,  and  forms  to 
this  day  a  large  part  of  the  population  in  Russia,  Aus- 
tria, Hungary,  and  the  Danube  provinces.  Farther  to 
'the  south  came  the  Italians  and  the  Greeks,  whose 
homes  you  will  have  no  difficulty  in  remembering. 

1  The  most  recent  investigations  tend  to  throw  doubt  upon  the  orig- 
inal residence  of  the  Aryans  in  Western  Asia,  but  have  not  yet  offeree? 
any  satisfactory  substitute. 


THE  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375.  3 

It  is  only  about  a  hundred  years  since  men  began  to 
think  that  all  these  races  might  be  parts 
of  one  single  family,  and  it  is  much  less  than 
that  since  we  have  become  tolerably  certain  of  it.  The 
chief  reason  for  believing  in  the  unity  of  the  Indo- 
European  race,  is  that  all  the  languages  spoken  by  the 
various  branches  have  so  many  root-words  alike,  that 
we  can  hardly  believe  that  they  are  not  derived  from 
one  common  language.1 

But  however  much  alike  they  may  once  have  been, 
they  early  became  marked  by  very  great  Racediifer- 
differences.  The  Greeks  and  Italians  had  ences. 
come  into  warm  and  fertile  countries,  where  agriculture 
was  easy  and  where  a  very  long  coast-line  with  many 
harbors  tempted  them  to  a  seafaring  life.2  The  north- 
ern branches,  on  the  other  hand,  had  come  to  a  country 
where  everything  was  opposed  to  civilization,  where 
dense  forests  or  endless  marshes  covered  the  ground, 
where  long  and  hard  winters  made  even  the  mainte- 
nance of  life  a  hard  struggle,  and  where  a  rough  and 
dangerous  northern  sea  offered  them  no  attractions  on 
its  farther  shore  to  offset  the  peril  of  the  voyage. 

All  these   causes,  working  through  a  period  whose 
length  we  cannot  guess  at,  had  made  the  races 
fitted  for  quite  different  parts  in   the  great  race  gave  to 
drama  of  recorded  history.     The  Greeks  ex-  theworld- 
celled  in  everything  that  had  to  do  with  beauty  and 
with  human  thought  in  the  abstract,  but  they  did  not 

1  An  idea  of  the  process  by  which  these  results  have  been  reached, 
may  be  gained  from  the  popular  writings  of  Prof.  Max  Miiller  in 
England,  and  Prof.  W.  D.  Whitney  of  Yale  University. 

-  E.  Curtius :  History  of  Greece,  Bk.  I.  Ch.  I. 


4  THE  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375. 

know  how  to  carry  out  their  thought  into  practice  in 
such  a  way  as  to  give  men  great  organized  institutions. 
They  have  left  us  a  splendid  inheritance  in  works  of 
art  and  literature,  in  philosophy  and  in  the  history  of 
political  experiments.  They  never  succeeded  in  found- 
ing a  united  Greek  state.  The  Italians,  on  the  other 
hand,  especially  the  Romans,  had  the  gift  of  practical 
politics.  Their  mission  was  to  give  law  and  order  to 
the  South  of  Europe.  Of  the  Northern  nations,  but 
one  claims  our  attention.  The  Kelt  gave  way  whenever 
he  was  brought  into  contact  with  another  race.  The 
Slav  has  not  yet  risen  to  be  conscious  of  his  power. 
The  German  alone  of  Northmen  has  taken  rank  with 
Greek  and  Roman  in  the  work  of  civilization.  His  part 
has  been  to  take  the  best  of  what  they  had  giverThim 
and  to  work  it  over  into  permanent  institutions. 

Our  book  lias  to  do  with  a  time  when  Greek  culture 
had  lost  its  hold  upon  Western  Europe,  when  the  politi- 
cal institutions  which  the  Romans  had  founded  were 
passing  away,  and  when  the  Germans  were  beginning 
to  take  up  the  work  of  civilization.  Our  main  interest 
is  in  the  transition  from  Roman  to  German  institutions. 
Before  we  come  to  this  main  topic  it.  will  be  well  for  us 
to  recall  to  mind  the  process  by  which  the  Roman 
Empire  of  the  fourth  century  after  Christ  had  come  to 
be  the  thing  it  was. 

The  Romans  were  a  small  and  feeble  branch  of  the 
How  the  Italian  race,  settled  in  a  not  very  beautiful 

Bomanshad  or  healthful  region  on  the  lower  course  of  the 
world.  river  Tiber.     Their  outward  history  for  seven 

c.  750  B.C.  hundred  years  is  one  of  steady  and  uninter- 
rupted conquest.     Beginning  in  their  immediate  neigh- 


THE  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375.  5 

borhood,  they  had  beaten  all  their  neighbors  in  war  and 
had  then  Romanized  them,  making  them  one  with  them- 
selves and  using  them  as  a  means  of  conquering  still 
more  distant  nations.  They  had  never  gone  any  faster 
in  their  conquests  than  they  could  go  safely.  They 
never  took  a  new  step  until  all  the  land  tKrough  which 
they  must  pass  had  become  Roman  land.  They  bound 
these  conquered  peoples  to  themselves  by  giving  them 
as  large  a  share  in  their  own  political  rights  as  seemed 
safe  for  the  common  liberty.  They  respected  the  relig- 
ion and  the  private  customs  of  the  conquered,  requir- 
ing only  obedience  to  the  public  law  of  Rome,  military 
service,  and  payment  of  taxes. 

By  these  cautious  and  generous  methods  Rome  had 
extended   her   government   by   the   time    of  Romanizin 
Christ  over  all  the  countries  bordering  upon   of  the 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.     The  Mediterranean   Provinces 
had  become  a  "  Roman    Lake."      From  that  time  on, 
Rome  made  no  more  important  conquests.     In  the  four 
hundred  years  from   Augustus   to   the  time   our  story 
begins,  the    enormous  empire  over  which  Rome  ruled 
was  simply  becoming  more  and  more  Romanized.     The 
Latin  language  replaced  all  the  local  languages  except 
the  Greek.      Roman  life,  with  all  its  refinements  and 
elegancies,  was  carried  into  all  the  provinces.     Roman 
schools  taught  the  youth  of  at  least  the  western  portion 
of  the  Empire.     We  may  properly  speak  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  all  this  vast  territory  as  "  Romans." 

But  this  enormous  growth,  steady  and  natural  as  it 
had  been,  had  not  come  about  without  great  g  .  ..  f  h 
changes  in  the  government  of   Rome  itself.  Soman 
The  earliest  feeling   of  which  we  have  any     epu  1C' 


6  THE  ROMANS  TO  A.D.  375. 

distinct  record  in  Roman  history  is  that  of  intense 
hatred  of  the  name  of  "king."  The  people  believed 
that  there  had  once  been  kings  among  them,  and  that 
these  had  been  driven  but  forever ;  and  so  bitter  was 
the  hatred  of  their  memory  that  a  law  was  passed  mak- 
ing it  high  treason  for  any  one  henceforth  to  call  him- 
self a  king  of  Romans.  From  that  time  on,  during  the 
whole  time  of  conquest,  Rome  was  a  republic,  governed 
by  men  of  her  own  choosing.  These  officers,  judges 
in  peace  and  generals  in  war,  were  elected  by  popular 
vote  and  served  generally  but  one  year.  A  mag- 
nificent machinery  of  government,  such  as  the  world 
has  never  seen  again,  grew  up  by  a  natural  growth, 
and  was  carried  on  during  most  of  this  long  period 
by  the  best  men  of  the  state.  Generation  after  gen- 
eration the  Roman  Republic  went  on,  sending  out 
from  the  centre  an  endless  supply  of  trained  officials 
whose  honor  and  whose  interest  were  concerned  in  keep- 
ing alive  the  passion  of  loyalty  which  had  made  this 
great  expansion  possible. 

But  now  evils  began  to  be  felt.    The  machinery  of  gov- 
«      .     .        eminent  was  so  perfect  that  men  began  to  feel 

Growing  in-  i  © 

difference  of     somewhat  indifferent  as  to  who  should  manage 

it.      The  great  mass  of  citizens,  busied  with 

other  matters,  left  the  management  of  public  affairs  to  a 

few  clever  men  who  began  to  find  politics  profitable  for 

themselves.     The  demagogue  became  the  great  man  of 

Rome.     You  will  remember  the  names  of  the 

Gracchi,  of   Marius  and  Sulla,  as  men  who 

were  aiming  at  power,  either  for  its  own  sake  or  in 

order  to  accomplish  something  which  could  not  be  done 

by  regular  methods,  and  who  were  playing  with  the  fire 


THE  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375.  7 

of  popular  approval  or  popular  hatred.     The  greatest 
man  in  this  series  of  party  leaders  was  Caius 

t-  l.  . .  1 1"-**-*  .     t  Julius  OaBsar. 

Julius  Caesar.  He  may  or  may  not  nave 
thought  the  time  had  come  to  throw  off  the  trammels  of 
republicanism  and  declare  himself  the  permanent  head 
of  the  state.  At  all  events,  a  party  devoted  to  the  old 
order  of  things  believed  he  had  such  ambitions,  and 
murdered  him. 

They  fancied  that  the  republic  was  saved ;  but  things 
had  already  gone  too  far  on  the  way  towards  a  mon- 
archy. The  strife  of  parties  went  on  after  the  death  of 
Julius,  and  the  survivor  of  the  struggle  was  Augustus 
his  nephew  Octavianus,  better  known  to  us  as  "iterator." 
Augustus.  A  certain  reverence  for  tradition  kept  him 
from  reviving  the  hated  name  of  "  king,"  and  led  him  to 
choose  the  familiar  word  "imperator  "  (emperor)  for  his 
title.  This  name  and  another  which  Augustus  adopted, 
"princeps"  (chief),  might  be  used  without  implying  the 
ruin  of  the  republican  forms.  'Flic  Empire  of  Augustus 
was  no  violent  break  in  the  method  of  government. 
The  administration  went  on  much  as  before,  only  that 
now  the  powers  of  the  various  offices  of  consul,  tribune, 
pontifex  maximus,  etc.,  were  assumed  by  one  man.  If 
others  were  allowed  to  bear  these  titles,  it  was  clear 
that  there  was  but  one  source  of  actual  power.  The 
offices  were  not  abolished ;  it  was  only  that  the  strife 
of  parties  could  no  longer  be  borne,  and  men  were  glad 
to  find  comparative  peace  in  the  sovereignty  of  one 
capable  man. 

And  this  theory  continued  for  nearly  three  Th  , 
hundred  years.  The  Roman  emperors  of  this  Empire 
period  were,  comparatively  speaking,  popu-  Popular' 


8  THE  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375. 

Jar  rulers.  In  spite  of  the  detestable  personal  charac- 
ter of  many  of  them,  the  government  continued  to  be 
administered  with  singular  moderation  and  success. 
Some  writers  have  not  hesitated  to  call  the  second  cen- 
tury the  happiest  period  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race. 

The  next  great  change  took  place  under  the  Emperor 
284-305  Diocletian.     The  greatest  danger  to  the  Em- 

Danger  of  pire  had  long  been  the  revolt  of  able  generals 
Kebelhon.  jn  distant  provinces,  where  they  were  sup- 
ported by  powerful  armies,  and  could  only  be  put  down 
by  great  expenditure  of  force.  The  wonder  is  that  the 
Empire  had  not  long  since  been  broken  up  into  a  score 
of  separate  kingdoms.  The  only  thing  that  had  saved  it 
had  been  that  the  rebels  were  ambitious  to  get  the  whole 
Empire,  and  had  thus  lost  whatever  they  had  gained. 
Diocletian  proposed  to  avoid  this  danger  for  the  future 
Diocletian  by  anticipating  it.  He  called  upon  a  brave 
Emoireto8  anc^  caPaD^e  general  named  Maximian  to 
save  it.  share  the  Empire  with  him,  and  voluntarily 

gave  up  to  him  all  the  lands  west  of  the  Adriatic  Sea. 
When  this  division  had  been  made,  Diocletian  carried 
through  another  yet.  The  two  emperors,  calling  them- 
selves Augusti,  named  two  others  as  their  assistants 
with  the  title  of  Caesar,  thus  dividing  the  Roman  world 
into  four  prettjr  nearly  equal  parts. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  part  of  Diocletian's  plan  that, 
Plan  of  after  a  certain  time,  the  two  Augusti  should 

succession.  resign  their  office  and  make  way  for  the  two 
Caesars,  who  in  turn  should  appoint  their  assistants  and, 
at  a  suitable  time,  retire  to  private  life.  This  would 
have  been  a  very  pretty  scheme,  but  it  was  against  all 


THE  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375.  9 

human  nature.  Diocletian  himself  resigned  after  twenty 
years  of  service,  and  induced  Maximian  to  do  the  same, 
t>ut  that  was  the  end  of  resigning.  From  that  time  on 
every  one  who  came  to  power  was  bent  upon  keeping 
it  as  long  as  he  could,  and  taking  away  from  every  one 
else  as  much  as  possible. 

The  twenty  years  following  the  abdication  of  Diocle- 
tian were  nlleji  with  tremendous  struggles  for 

306-324. 

po.wer,  which  ended  again  in  the  rule  of  one 

man,  Constantiiie  the  Great.    With  Diocletian  a  wholly 

new  idea  of  the  Roman  Empire  had  been  de- 

324-337. 

clared.     The  pretence  of  a  popular  sovereign- 
ty, which  for  more  than  a  century  had  been  growing 
steadily  weaker,  was  now  definitely  given  up,  and  the 
Roman  emperor  was  made  to  appear  as  much  The  Empire 
as~~possibie    like    an    Eastern    despot.       He   Orientalized. 
kept  himself   as  far  as  he   could  out  of   sight  of   his 
people ;  he  wore   the  dress  of  the   Orientals ;    he  sur- 
rounded himself  with  a  servile  company  of  officials,  who 
helped  him  to  keep  up  a  kind  of  magnificence  utterly 
hostile  to  the  old  Roman  spirit.     Constantiiie  empha- 
sized these  changes  by  building  for  himself  at  the  far- 
thest limit  of  Europe  the  new  city  of  Constantinople, 
which  was  to  share  with  Rome  the  honors  of  the  capital. 
Henceforth  the  weight  of  the  Empire  wTas  to  be  in  the 
East,  not  in  Italy. 

With  Constantine  another  great  change  came  about. 
The  Empire  hename.  Christian.     The  Christian  m,    ,, 
Church,  which,  as  late  as  the  time  of  Diocle-  becomes 
tian,  had  been  bitterly  persecuted,  rose  up  in      ristiani 
a  moment  into  power  and  splendor.     The  united  Em- 
pire made  a  united  Church  possible ;  and  even  when, 


10  THE  ROMANS   TO  A.D.  375. 

under  the  sons  of  Constantine,  the  Empire  again  fell 
apart,  the  Church  was  too  firmly  grounded  to  fear 
any  attack.  Indeed,  it  was  only  once  more  called  upon 
to  defend  itself.  A  nephew  of  Constantine,  Julian, 
brought  by  a  series  of  accidents  to  the  sole  govern- 
ment of  the  Empire,  turned  all  the  energy 
of  a  powerful  mind  to  the  restoration  of  the 
ancient  Roman  religion  and  the  repression  of  Chris- 
tianity. He  died  too  early  to  allow  his  plans  to  develop, 
but  his  attempt  only  served  to  show  how  strong  the 
hold  of  Christianity  upon  the  world  had  come  to  be. 

Julian  was  killed  in  battle,  fighting  against  the  Per- 
Dangerfrom  sians,  who,  many  fancied,  were  the  most 
the  Germans,  dangerous  enemies  of  Rome.  He  had  won 
his  fame  as  a  soldier  by  years  of  fighting  against  the 
Germans  of  the  middle  Rhine.  While  others  were 
troubling  themselves  about  the  Persians,  Julian  is  said 
to  have  remarked,  "  The  Goths  are  quiet  just  now,  but 
perhaps  they  will  not  always  be  quiets  The  Persians 
soon  ceased  to  cause  anxiety  at  Rome,  but  sixteen 
years  after  the  death  of  Julian  a  German  nation,  in  the 
great  battle  of  Adrianople,  far  within  the 
limits  of  the  Empire,  completely  defeated  an 
imperial  army  and  proclaimed  the  downfall  of  the 
etermircTEy^  In  that  interval  of  sixteen  years  the  most 
important  interest  of  Rome  was  the  defence  of  the  Ger- 
man frontier,  and  we  may  now  consider  with  some  care 
the  conditions  of  the  two  races  towards  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century  after  Christ. 


ft        <       o 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    TWO    RACES. 

Authorities  :  —  For  very  complete  bibliographies,  see  Dahn : 
Konige  der  Germanen,  and  Wieters^eim  :  Volkerwanderung.  — ■ 
The  "Leges  Barbarorum"  in  Walter:  Corpus  juris  Germanici 
Antiqui,  and  in  the  Monumenta  Germmike,  Leges  I.  II.  —  Pub- 
lius  Cornelius  Tacitus :  The  Agricola  and  Germany.  Ed. 
by  W.  F.  Allen.  —  Tacitus:  Agricola  and  Germany.  Trans,  by 
Church  and  Brodribb.  Lond.  1868.  —  J.  Caesar:  de  Bello 
Gallico. 

Modern  Works  :  —  Charles  Kingsley  :  The  Roman  and  the  Teu- 
ton. Lectures  at  the  University  of  Cambridge.  1864.  —  Felix 
Dahn :  Urgeschichte  der  Germanischen  und  Romanischen  Vblker. 
2  bde.  1881.  —  Guhl  and  Koner:  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans. N.Y.  1876.  —  W.  Menzel :  History  of  Germany.  3  vols. 
Lond.  1869.  —  F.  Kohlrausch  :  History  of  Germany.    Lond.  1844. 

—  C.  T.  Lewis:  History  of  Germany.  N.Y.  1879.  Largely  a 
version  of  D.  M  tiller's  Deutsche  Geschichte.  None  of  these 
three  works  has  any  special  merit  beyond  that  of  being  accessible 
to  the  English  reader.  —  Georg  Kauf  mann  :  Deutsche  Geschichte 
bis  auf  Karl  den  Grossen.  2  bde.  in  1.  1880-81.  An  admira- 
ble book.  —  J.  Zeller:  Histoire  d'Allemagne.  Vols.  I.  and  II. 
1872-73.  —  K.  W.  Nitzsch:  Geschichte  des  Deutschen  Volkes. 
Bd.  1.  1883.  A  very  suggestive  work,  especially  on  the  Migra- 
tions. —  Otto  Henne-am-Rhyn  :  Kulturgeschichte  des  Deutschen 
Volkes.  1886.  —  R.  Pallman  :  Die  Geschichte  der  Volkerwan- 
derung. 2  th.  1863.  —  Ed.  v.  Wietersheim :  Geschichte  der 
Volkerwanderung.  2te.  Aufl.  von  F.  Dahn.  2  bde.  1880-81. 
These  two  are  the  highest  modern  authorities  on  the  Migration. 

—  Felix  Dahn :  Die  Konige  der  Germanen ;  Das  Wesen  des 
aeltesten  Konigthums  der  Germanischen  St'amme  und  seine 
Geschichte  bis  auf  die  Feudalzeit.     6  Abtheil'n.   1861-71.    An 


12  THE   TWO  RACES. 

enormous  work,  giving  the  history  of  most  of  the  migrating 
nations,  with  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  growth  of  the  royal 
powers  among  them.  —  W.  Scherer :  History  of  German  Litera- 
ture. 2v.  N.Y.  1886.  —  Gostwick  and  Harrison  :  Outlines  of 
German  Literature.  N.Y.  1873.  —  J.  K.  Hosmer :  A  Short  His- 
tory of  German  Literature.     St.  Louis. 

If  you  will  find  on  the  map  of  Europe  the  sources  of 
The  river-  tne  rivers  Rhine  and  Danube,  you  will  see 
boundary.  that  they  are  very  near  each  other.  If,  then, 
you  follow  the  courses  of  these  rivers  to  their  mouths, 
it  will  be  clear  that  they  form  an  almost  continuous 
line  from  the  North  Sea  to  the  Black  Sea.  This 
line  was  for  many  hundred  years  the  border  between 
two  great  races -of  men.  The  Romans,  or  Romanized 
provincials,  lived  on  the  west  and  south,  in  what  are 
now  France,  Spain,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Austria,  the 
Danube  provinces,  Greece  and  Turkey,  also  in  England 
and  along  the  whole  southern  shore  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea.  'Beyond  our  line,  to  the  east  and  north,  lived 
the  Germans,  along  the  courses  of  the  rivers  Ems, 
WeserrElhe,  Oder,  and  Vistula,  which  flow  northward 
to  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic.1  By  the  time  we 
begin  our  study,  that  is,  toward  the  close  of  the  fourth 
century  after  Christ,  Germans  had  also  come  to  live 
along  the  Theiss,  Dniester,  and  Dnieper,  which  flow 
southward  to  the  Danube  and  the  Black  Sea.  We 
shall  be  occupied  now  for  some  time  with  the  dealings 

1  The  continuity  of  the  frontier-line  was  still  further  marked  by  a 
wall  of  earth  and  stone,  built  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  from  near 
Regensburg  on  the  Danube  to  near  Cologne  on  the  Rhine,  inclosing  a 
triangular  piece  of  country  called  the  "  Agri  Decumates."  This  land 
was  occupied  then  by  Roman  colonists,  who  were  gradually  driven  out 
as  the  Germans  advanced. 


THE   TWO   RACES.  13 

between  these  two  races.  Sometimes  we  shall  find 
them  in  open  warfare  ;  sometimes,  living  side  by  side 
in  apparent  harmony.  But  all  the  time,  in  all  outward 
things,  the  Germans  were  slowly  and  surely  gaining 
upon  the  Romans.  They  were  taking  away  their  lands, 
destroying  many  of  their  cities,  and  forcing  them  to 
become  their  subjects.     And_vetjdurjin^  time, 

in  all  that  had  to  do  with  the  inner  life  of  the  nation, 
they  were  just  as  surely  being  conquered  by  the  Ro- 
mansT  The^  were  learning  to  live  in  cities,  to  read 
and  write,  to  make  better  weapons  and  clothes,  to  use 
money,  to  like  fine  things,  and  to  live  more  orderly  and 
peaceful  lives. 

For,  at  the  time  we  begin  to  study  about  them,  you 
can  hardly  imagine  two  peoples  more  differ-  How  the 
ent  than  were  these  on  opposite  sides  of  the  Romans  lived. 
Rhine-Danube  frontier.  The  Romans  were  living  some- 
what as  we  might  be  living  now,  if  we  had  never  heard 
of  steam-engines  or  gunpowder.  They  had  great  and 
beautiful  cities,  filled  with  everything  to  please  the 
taste,  with  statues  and  pictures,  magnificent  public  and 
private  buildings,  with  great  stone  circuses  where  thou- 
sands of  people  spent  a  day  or  two  every  week  watch- 
ing athletic  sports.  Broad  and  smooth  roads  connected 
these  cities,  and  made  it  easy  for  the  one  or  two  men  who 
governed  all  this  mighty  empire  to  send  a  message  with 
wonderful  swiftness  from  Rome  or  Constantinople  to 
the  borders  of  Scotland  or  of  Persia.1 

1  The  Emperor  Tiberius  travelled,  to  visit  his  brother  Drusus,  from 
Pavia  to  beyond  the  German  frontier,  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  in  twen* 
ty-four  hours.  The  news  of  the  murder  of  the  Emperor  Maximian  was 
brought  from  Aquileia  to  Kome  in  four  days,  an  average  journey  by 
land  of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  a  day. 


14  THE   TWO  RACES. 

The  Germans,  on  the  other  hand,  were  living  rather 
How  the  Ger-  better  than  the  best  of  the  North  American 
mans  lived.  Indians  lived  when  white  men  first  came  to 
our  country.  They  had  no  cities,  but  lived  in  rude  vil- 
lages with  no  strong  walls  to  keep  out  enemies.  They 
got  their  living  mainly  by  hunting  and  fishing. 

What  little  agriculture  they  had  was  chiefly  managed 
by  women.  They  raised  what  was  needed  to  carry  them 
through  one  winter,  but  had  not  learned  the  value  of 
money,  which  helps  men  to  exchange  what  they  do  not 
need  for  themselves  for  other  things  which  they  want. 
Their  dress  was  of  skins  or  rude  cloths.  They  had  no 
one  ruler  like  the  Roman  Emperor,  but  were  broken  up 
into  many  tribes,  each  of  which  had  its  own  leaders ; 
not  hereditary  kings,  like  those  of  Europe  to-day,  but 
chosen  by  the  people.  War  and  hunting  were  their 
only  honorable  occupations. 

Of  these  two  races,  the  wild,  barbarian  Germans  are 
Wh  ,     far  more  interesting  to  us  than  the  elegant, 

about  the  civilized  Romans,  partly  because  they  were 
""to  be  the  conquerors  in  the  great  struggle, 
but  also  because  those  amongThem  who  were  to  break 
the  line  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube  were  own  cousins  of 
those  others  who  were  to  cross  the  sea  and  settle  in  Eng- 
land, and  whom  we  are  proud  to  call  our  ancestors;  cous- 
ins, also,  of  those  others  yet  who  much  later  sailed  from 
the  same  shores  of  the  North  Sea,  went  to  school  for  a 
few  generations  to  their  more  civilized  relatives  in  Nor- 
mandy, and  then  crossed  over  to  England  to  help  in 
the  making  of  that  great  people  from  which  we  have 
sprung. 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  preserved  to  us  an  ac- 


THE   TWO  RACES.  15 

count  of  the  Germans,  written  by  a  Roman  near  the 
end  of  the  first  century.     This  little  book  of  Th  ,,„ 
the  Roman  Tacitus  was  evidently  written  to  nia»of 
show  his  own  countrymen  how  much  better     acitus' 
in  many  ways  the  Germans  were  "than  themselves,  and  to 
warn  them  of  the  dangers  which  they  might  expect  if 
they  did  not  learn  some  lessonsTrom  the  despised  bar- 
barian.    By  noticing  what  things   about  the  Germans 
seemed  most  remarkable  to  Tacitus  and  to  other  much 
later  writers,  we  can  get  a  clearer  idea  of  the  great  differ- 
ences between  the  two  races. 

All  speak  of  the  immense  size  of  the  Germans,  and 
skeletons  found  recently  in  ancient  graves  a  race  of 
prove  that  they  were  indeed  a  race  of  giants.  siantSi 
Then  their  "  fierce  blue  eyes "  and  blonde  or  "  red " 
hair  served  to  make  them  still  more  terrible  to  the 
smaller,  darker,  and  gentler  Roman.  The  life  of  the 
forest  had  been  for  centuries  doing  its  work  of  building 
up  these  warriors  to  be  capable  of  bearing  the  cold, 
patient  of  fatigue,  and,  above  all,  brave  beyond  any 
known  people  of  the  earth.  War  was  their  delight. 
Again  and  again  the  Roman  writers  speak  of  the  fury 
with  which  they  rushed  into  the  battle,  of  their  indiffer- 
ence to  wounds,  and  even  of  the  gladness  with  which 
they  met  the  death  which  was  to  unite  them  with  Odin 
in  the  joys  of  the  hereafter. 

Then   their   family  life   was   pure.     "  Almost   alone 
among~Toarbarians,"  says   Tacitus,  "they  are  Family 
content  with  one  wife."     The  husband  whose  p^j> 
wife  was  unfaithful  cut  off  her  hair,  expelled  her  from 
his  house,  and  flogged  her  naked  through  the  whole  vil- 
lage.    "No   one   in   Germany   laughs   at   vice,  nor  is 


16  THE  TWO  RACES. 

it  the  fashion  to  corrupt  and  be  corrupted."  "  Good 
habits  are  here  more  effectual  than  good  laws  else- 
where." On  the  other  hand,  they  had  the  vices  of 
their  condition.  They  were  so  immoderately  fond  of 
drinking  that  it  was  counted  no  disgrace  to  spend  a 
whole  day  and  night  over  their  cups.  Gambling,  too, 
had  such  charms  for  them  that  they  would  even  stake 
their  liberty  on  the  game,  but  the  man  who  got  a  slave 
by  such  means  was  glad  to  sell  him  out  of  sight  as  fast 
as  possible  for  very  shame. 

Still  more  singular  must  their  military  arrangements 
Personal  mil-  have  seemed  to  the  Romans,  who  were  used 
itary  service,  to-  the  strict  control  of  the  state  over  the 
service  of  every  man.  The  Germans,  having,  as  we 
have  seen,  no  great  single  state  like  that  of  the  Romans, 
were  accustomed  to  serve  some  leader  who  had  the 
name  of  being  a  brave  and  successful  captain.  They 
would  join  such  a  man  in  groups  of  tens  or  hundreds,  or 
it  might  be  of  thousands,  and  bind  themselves  to  him 
by  an  oath.  He  in  turn  was  bound  to  lead  them  faith- 
fully, and  to  give  them  a  fair  share  of  the  plunder.  If 
for  a  long  time  there  was  no  war  going  on  at  home,  the 
chief  and  his  followers  would  go  where  there  was  a  war, 
and  take  service  on  one  side  or  the  other.  Of  course  a 
war  against  the  Romans  was  always  the  most  popular. 
This  loose  military  organization  will  explain  why  it  is 
that  we  so  often  see  groups  of  Germans  of  very  differ- 
ent names  fighting  side  by  side  at  one  moment,  and  at 
the  next  perhaps  engaged  on  opposite  sides  in  a  new 
conflict.  It  will  explain,  also,  why  the  Germans  were 
able  to  enter  so  freely  into  the  service  of  the  Roman 
government.     It  will  further  help  us  to  understand  the 


THE  TWO  RACES.  17 

great  importance  of  individual  leaders  in  all  the  enter- 
prises of  the  Germans.  The  leader  held  his  place  only 
so  long  as  he  kept  up  his  reputation  f or  TFavery~and 
success,  and  thus  the  fighting  men  of  a  tribe  were 
always  sure  of  a  leader  worthy  of  their  own  courage 
and  devotion.  You  can  see  what  an  immense  advan- 
tage this  gave  them  over  the  Roman  army,  which  had 
little  to  say  in  the  choice  of  its  own  leaders,  and  was 
obliged  to  wait  for  orders  from  a  government  hundreds 
of  miles  away  which  might  at  that  moment  have  inter- 
ests at  heart  that  did  not  in  the  least  concern  the  men 
of  the  legions. 

But  now  if  we  turn  the  page  and  read  in  the  Roman 
writers  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  the  account  of 
the  life  going  on  all  over  the  great  Roman  R0man 
Empire,  we  shall  be  shocked  at  the  terrible  immorality. 
difference.       One   has   some    idea   of    the    wickedness 
of  life  in  the  great  cities  of  the  world  to-day,  but  we 
should  have  to  multiply  that  many  times  to  get  any 
conception  of  the  dreadful  state  of  Roman  morals  at 
the   time  when    the   Germans   began   to  threaten   the 
frontier.      Perhaps   our   picture    of  the   time    will   be 
clear  enough  if  we  add  to  all  the  temptations  of  modern 
life,  —  to   immoderate  wealth,    desire    for   amusement, 
lack  of  religious  principle,  weakening  of  home  attach- 
ments,—  the    crowning   evil   of   human    slavery.     The 
Roman  slave  was  not  the  dull  and  degraded 
savage   whom  we    associate  with   the  word 
"  slave,"  but  he  might  be  a  man,  in  all  ways  the  supe- 
rior of  his  master ;  and  the  absolute  control  over  the  life 
and  happiness  of  such  a  human  being  must  have  been 
far  more  brutalizing  than  if  the  owner  could  really  have 


18  THE   TWO  RACES. 

felt  that  the  slave  was  only  a  step  above  the  brute. 
With  these  slavish  ministers  to  every  want  the  Roman 
sank  into  the  wretched  though  splendid  existence  which 
horrifies  us  in  every  writer  from  Juvenal  to  Sidonius. 

The  Germans  in  the  fourth  century  were,  we  have 
m^    ,    n       said,   nearly  as  barbarous  as  the  American 

Why  the  Ger-  '  J 

mans  con-  Indian  ;  but  there  was  one  great  difference 
qneredRome.  between  these  two.  The  German  had  the 
capacity  to  learn  ;  the  Indian  had  not.  The  Indian, 
coming  into  contact  with  the  civilized  man,  learned  of 
him  only  his  vices.  The  German,  meeting  the  Roman, 
learned  of  him  how  to  govern,  how  to  read  and  write, 
to  cultivate  the  ground,  to  build  cities,  and  to  live  in 
them,  to  put  aside  his  old  religion,  and  to  take  that  of 
the  conquered  Roman.  One  wonders  why  the  great 
Roman  emperor  did  not  call  out  a  mighty  army  as  he 
had  done  in  the  old  days,  and  hold  the  line  of  the  two 
rivers  so  that  not  a  German  should  set  foot  across  it. 
The  fact  is,  that  this  very  elegant  and  luxurious  life  of 
the  Romans  had  made  them  unable  to  defend  them- 
selves. Once  Roman  armies  had  conquered  the  civil- 
ized world ;  but  now  native-born  Romans  enjoyed  life  so 
much  in  their  theatres,  their  circuses,  their  baths,  and 
their  beautiful  villas  in  the  country,  or  at  the  seashore, 
that  they  did  not  care  to  go  into  the  army  any  more. 
They  much  preferred  to  pay  money  to  hire  soldiers  to 
do  the  fighting  for  them ;  and  when  a  nation  comes  to 
that,  it  may  begin  to  say  farewell  to  its  greatness. 

Now  the  best  soldiers  to  be  hired  were  our  Germans. 
They  did  not  have  to  ask  leave  of  any  rulers;  often 
they  came,  rulers  and  all,  across  the  border,  and  let 
themselves  for  money  to  the  Roman  generals.     It  mat- 


THE   TWO  RACES.  19 

tered  little  if  they  were  then  employed  to  fight  against 
their  own  brothers.  They  earned  their  pay,  H  ,  „ 
saw  the  world,  and  went  home  to  fill  the  mans  learned 
ears  and  the  eyes  of  their  kinsmen  with  the  a  out  ome' 
wonderful  story  and  the  precious  spoils  of  Rome.  Or, 
they  stayed  in  the  army,  and  rose  to  high  position,  so 
that  from  the  fourth  century  on  we  find  the  very 
highest  posts  in  the  army  and  in  civil  life  filled  by 
men  whose  fathers  had  lived  the  life  of  the  German 
barbarian. 

There  was  one  other  barrier  which  might  have  done 
more  than  the  river-line  to  hold  the  two  races  m,   : 

The  two  races 

apart,— the  difference  of  religion.  But  long  had  the  same 
before  the  frontier  was  broken  this  barrier  reifflon' 
gave  way.  By  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  those  of 
the  Germans  who  lived  nearest  the  border  had  received 
the  gentle  message  of  the  Gospel  and  had  become,  after 
a  fashion,  Christians.  Just  how  this  work  was  accom- 
plished we  do  not  know.  Only  one  name  has  come 
down  to  us  out  of  the  darkness,  that  of  Ulfilas,  a  West- 
Goth,  who  lived  early  in  this  century  and  who  invented 
an  alphabet,  made  a  written  language  for  his  people,  and 
gave  them  thus  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue,  exactly 
as  our  own  John  Eliot  gave  the  Bible  to  the  Indians  of 
North  America.  A  fragmentary  copy  of  this  Bible, 
written  in  silver  letters  on  scarlet  parchment,  is  kept  in 
the  library  of  the  university  of  Upsala,  in  Sweden. 
This  community  of  religion  helped  to  draw  the  two 
races  nearer  to  each  other. 

The    same    gradual   approach   was    helped  along   by 
commercial  dealings.     Though  not  as  yet  a  Commercial 
trading  people  themselves,  the  Germans  had  dealm£s- 


20  THE  TWO  RACES. 

in  time  come  to  want  many  of  the  good  things  of  the 
Romans,  such  as  wine,  ornaments,  arms,  spices,  and  finer 
clothing.  The  Roman  traders  who  came  to  them  over 
the  border  had  brought  far  more  than  the  packs  on  their 
backs.  They,  too,  had  carried  the  story  of  Rome,  of  fer- 
tile lands,  of  boundless  wealth,  and  of  men  who  no  longer 
cared  to  fight  in  defence  of  their  treasures.  The  same 
story  came  over  the  rivers  by  the  lips  of  Roman  pris- 
oners taken  in  the  border-warfare,  which  was  always 
going  on.  So  you  will  see  that  everything  was  tending 
to  draw  the  thoughts  and  hopes  of  these  German  warriors 
toward  the  south.  There,  once  fairly  beyond  the  rivers, 
they  might  hope  for  endless  plunder,  for  lands  enough, 
and  for  slaves,  who,  being  unfit  for  war,  were  good  for 
nothing  but  to  cultivate  the  land,  while  they,  the  con- 
querors, should  have  all  the  pleasure  and  glory  of  fight- 
ing, and  in  peace  should  live  lives  of  ease  and  plenty. 

But  besides  these  attractions  there  were  two  other 
increase  of  causes  which  were  pressing  the  Germans 
population.  steadily  southward.  One  of  these  was^  in- 
crease of  population.  So  long  as  a  nation  lives  mainly 
by  hunting  and  grazing,  it  needs  an  immense  quantity 
of  land.  If  it  does  not  have  this,  the  game  will  get 
scarce,  the  rivers  will  be  fished  out,  and  the  people  must 
move  or  starve.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Germans  in  the  fourth  century  were  increasing  rapidly 
in  numbers,  and  as  this  increase  went  on,  their  lands 
were  not  large  enough  to  support  them.  One  of  two 
things  "they  must  do,  either  clear  and  cultivate  their 
own  rough  country  or  take  the  lands  which  the  industry 
of  the  Romans  had  made  ready  for  them.  A  race  of 
fresh  and  vigorous  fighting  men  could  not  hesitate; 
they  would  take  their  neighbors'  land. 


THE   TWO  RACES.  21 

The  second  cause  was  a  pressure  from  behind.  We 
shall  speak  of  this  at  some  length  by  and  by,  preSsure  from 
and  need  to  remember  for  the  present  only  lehini' 
that  to  the  east  and  north  of  the  Germans  were  immense 
masses  of  other  and  still  ruder  barbarians,  Slavs  and 
men  of  the  great  Tartar  race,  who  were  pushing  upon 
them  from  time  to  time  with  great  violence,  and  were 
only  waiting  for  them  to  move,  to  press  on  and  occupy 
the  lands  they  left  empty. 

Thus  all  these  forces  were  acting  at  once,  drawing 
and  pushing  the  Germans  towards  the  south 
and  west.    The  time  had  come  when  the  fron- 
tier must  be  broken. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE    BREAKING    OF    THE    FRONTIER  BY  THE  VISIGOTHS. 

Authorities  :  —  Ammianus  Marcellinus  :  History,  continuation  of 
Tacitus  to  378.  A  soldier,  eye-witness  of  much  that  he  nar- 
rates \  a  pagan  with  respect  for  Christianity.  Brings  the  Visi- 
goths into  the  Empire  and  stops.  —  Jordan es  :  de  orlgine  acti- 
busque  Getarum.  Ed.  A.  Holder.  1882.  Trans,  into  German 
in  Die  Geschichtschreiber  der  Deutschen  Vorzeit.  VI.  Jahrt.  2. 
A  man  of  Gothic  descent,  wrote  about  552  an  epitome  of  the  lost 
history  of  Cassiodorus  Senator,  the  great  Roman  minister  of 
Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth.  —  Zosimus :  A  pagan  Greek,  contem- 
porary of  Theodosius  II.  (408-450),  wrote  the  history  of  the 
Empire  to  410  in  bitter  opposition  to  Christianity.  A  poor 
authority,  but  almost  the  only  one  after  Ammianus.  —  Eunapius, 
also  heathen  and  Greek,  glorifies  Julian  at  the  expense  of  the 
Christian  emperors.  —  The  Ecclesiastical  Historians,  Socrates, 
Sozomenus,  Theodoretus,  and  Philostorgius,  together  cover- 
ing the  period  from  307  to  425.  Their  chief  interest  is 
theological,  and  we  get  from  them  little  light  upon  the  move- 
ment of  events.  —  Aurelius  Augustinus :  The  City  of  God. 
Trans,  by  Marcus  Dods.  2  vols.  1872.  —  Salvianus :  de  guber- 
natione  dei ;  written  in  Gaul  before  450 ;  ascribes  all  the  evils  of 
the  times  to  the  decay  of  morality  among  the  Romans. 

Modern  Works: — As  above,  also  under  Chap.  IX.  —  Thomas 
Hodgkin:  Italy  and  her  Invaders.  Vols.  I.-IV.  1880-86.  A 
most  interesting  and  picturesque  account  of  the  barbarian  inva- 
sion of  Italy  to  the  year  553.    Valuable  as  far  as  our  Chap.  VII. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  suppose  that  this  attack  had 
The  Roman  n°t  been  long  expected  by  the  Roman  gov- 
offensive.  eminent.  For  nearly  four  hundred  years  it 
had  strained  every  nerve,  first  to  conquer  the  Germans 


BREAKING  OF  THE  FRONTIER.  23 

on  their  own  soil  as  it  had  conquered  so  many  another 
nation,  and   then   to    hold   the   frontier  against   ever- 
repeated  barbarian  attacks.    During  the  reign   31  Bi0i  t0 
of  Augustus,  several  expeditions  were  made  14:A,J)- 
across  the  lower  Rhine ;   but  this  foreign  attack  only 
served  to  draw  together  the  scattered   forces   of   the 
Germans,  who  under  their  great  leader,  Hermann,  so 
utterly  defeated   the    Roman  armies  in  the     fl 
great  battle  of  the  Teutoburg  Forest,  that, 
in  spite  of  partial  successes,  no   Roman  armed  force 
could  succeed  in  getting  a  permanent  hold  upon  the 
north   of  Germany.     The   attempt  was  given  up,  and 
when  next  we  find  the  two  races  at  war,  it  changed  to 
is   the    pTPrmans  who  make  *I»p  at.tflp.Tr,  anrl  in    defensive, 
the  terrible  war  of  the  Marcoinanni  on  the   166"180, 
upper  Danube  put  the  enormous  resources  of  the  great 
Empire  of  Marcus  Aurelius  to  the  most  terrible  test. 
An  advantageous  peace  alone  saved  the  Danube  fron- 
tier.    For  another  century  the  same  story  was  repeated. 
Rapid  expeditions  of  German  warriors  swept  over  the 
country,  even  down  into  Italy  and  through  the  midst 
of  Gaul.     They  were  driven  back  and  held  in  check 
only  by  the  aid  of  their  own  countrymen  serving  with 
the    Roman    legions,   or   settled    near   the   frontier   as 
"allies"  of  the  Empire.     Nothing  but  a  lack  of  union 
among   themselves   prevented    them    even    then    from 
occupying  permanently  the  land  of  Rome.     It  is  won- 
derful to  see  how,  even  as  late  as  this,  the  greater  disci- 
pline and  better  organization  of  the  Roman  army,  and 
the  more  complete  system  of  the  Roman  government, 
prevailed   against   the   superior   brute   force,  but  less 
intelligent  leadership  of  the  Germans. 


24  THE  BREAKING   OF  THE 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  names  and  positions  of  the 
Situation  of  vari°us  German  peoples  just  before  the  final 
the  German  break  of  the  frontier.  They  had  formerly 
been  broken  up  into  a  vast  multitude  of 
petty  tribes,  living  each  for  itself;  but  now,  ever  since 
the  first  great  attack  of  the  Romans,  these  tribes  had 
been  uniting  into  great  confederations.1  In  the  north- 
east, beyond  the  line  of  the  Elbe  and  Saale,  where  once 
Germanic  peoples  had  lived,  a  new  race,  the  Slavs,  had 
come  in,  while  the  former  occupants  had  moved  toward 
the  south,  where  we  shall  soon  find  them.  In  the 
northwest,  along  the  river  mouths,  were  the 

Saxons.  ^   -  .       " 

Saxons,  our  nearest  relatives,  least  influenced 
by  the  name  of  Rome,  and  in  fact,  never  as  a  nation,  to 
leave  this  their  original  home.  Westward  along  the 
„    ,  lower   Rhine    were    the    Franks,  the    future 

Pranks. 

conquerors  of  Gaul,  destined  to  be  the  one 
race  which  in  time  was  to  prevail  over  all  the  rest,  and  to 
give  law  and  order  to  the  continent  of  Europe.     Above 

the  Franks,  in   the  Rhine   valley,  were  the 

Alemanni  (All-men),  a  name  showing,  per- 
haps, the  fact  that  they  were  a  mixture  of  many  tribes. 
They  disappeared  as  a  nation  quite  early  in  the  conflict 
with  the  Franks,  but  curiously  enough  gave  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Gaul  the  name  by  which  to  this  day 
the    French  call  all  Germans   (Allemands).      East  of 

the  Alemanni  were  remnants  of  the  peoples 

Bavarians. 

which  had  fought  against  Marcus  Aurelius, 
the  Marcomanni  and  Quadi,  out  of  whom  as  a  nucleus 
the  great  nation  of  the  Bavarians  was  to  grow.  Fol- 
lowing the  Danube  line  still  to  the  eastward,  we  find 

1  See  Map  I. 


FRONTIER  BY  THE  VISIGOTHS.  25 

the   West-Goths  (Visigoths),  and   hp.yond    thp.m  again, 
to  the   northeast,  their   brethren   the    East-  Visigoths. 
Goths  (Ostrogoths),  stretching  out  into  the  Ostrogoths. 
valley  of  the  Don. 

These  Goths,  especially  the  western  branch,' had  for 
a  century  been  the  most  dangerous  enemies  The  journey 
of  Rome.  They  had  made  numerous  expedi-  of  the  Goths. 
tions  both  by  land  and  sea  against  the  eastern  Roman 
provinces,  and  had  brought  the  government  to  such  a 
pass  that  the  Emperor  Aurelian  had  been 
glad  to  buy  them  off  from  further  ravages  by 
giving  up  to  them  the  great  province  of  Dacia,  north  of 
the  Danube.  The  Goths  had  already  made  a  long  and 
difficult  journey  on  the  way  to  Rome.  We  first  hear  of 
them,  perhaps  three  centuries  before,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Vistula,  and  now  we  find  them  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Danube.  Of  the  journey  we  know  little.  They 
themselves  believed  that  they  had  once  come  over  from 
Sweden  in  three  ships,  —  the  West-Goths  first,  the  East- 
Goths  next,  and  some  time  after,  the  Gepidse  (tardy 
ones),  a  closely  related  tribe.  The  story  is  not  incredi- 
ble, if  we  are  willing  to  multiply  the  ships  a  little,  and 
if  we  remember  that  to  get  to  Scandinavia  they  must 
first  have  made  the  same  long  journey  to  the  northwest 
which  all  their  Germanic  brethren  had  made. 

At  all  events,  we  may  believe  that  the  whole  nation 
had  moved,  perhaps  driven  by  enemies,  per-  -what  a 
haps  in  search  of  new  pasture-lands  for  their   "migration" 

was  like  i 

cattle,  up  the  valleys  of  the  northward-flow- 
ing and  down  the  valleys  of  the  southward-flowing  rivers 
until  they  came  near  the  Black  Sea,  and  had  then  spread 
out  westward  until  they  reached  the  positions  we  have 


26  THE  BREAKING   OF  THE 

just  described.  It  is  hard  for  us,  accustomed  to  perma- 
nent ways  of  living,  to  imagine  what  such  a  great  migra- 
tion was  like ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  these 
people  had  no  property  but  such  as  they  could  drive  be- 
fore them  or  carry  upon  their  rude  wagons.  Their  home 
was  the  forest  and  the  plain  ;  the  river  valley  was  their 
highway  and  their  guide.  Their  progress  from  the 
Baltic  to  the  Euxine  was  probably  very  slow.  Perhaps 
not  oftener  than  once  in  the  life  of  each  man  would  the 
nation  leave  its  hunting-grounds  for  new  ones.  Later 
we  shall  see  them  moving  much  more  rapidly. 

For  about  a  century  after  the  Emperor  Aurelian  had 

The  pressure    given  the  province  of  Dacia  to  the  West-Goths 

of  the  Huns,     they  had  lived  on  comparatively  good  terms 

with  their  Roman  neighbors  and  had  come  to  lead  more 

settled  lives.     But  now,  about  the  vear  375,  a 

375. 

new  difficulty  arose.  A  new  people,  as  yet 
unknown  in  Europe,  suddenly  forced  the  Goths  to 
come  into  closer  contact  with  Rome.  The  Huns  were 
a  people,  surely  not  of  German  stock,  nor  even  of  the 
Aryan  race.  For  want  of  a  better  term  we  will  call 
them  ''Turanians."  They  came  from  the  north ...  of 
Asia,  beyond  the  great  wall  of  China,  passed  through 
the  "gateway  of  the  nations  "  between  the  Caspian  Sea 
and  the  Ural  Mountains,  and  fell  upon  the  distant  set- 
tlements of  the  East-Goths.  They  were  frightful  little 
men,  living  almost  wholly  on  horseback,  sweeping  over 
the  country  like  a  whirlwind  and  leaving  only  destruc- 
tion behind  them.  They  had  the  olive  skins  of  the 
Orientals,  their  hair  was  worn  long  and  tied  into  a  knot 
behind.  Their  noses  were  so  much  turned  up  that  the 
frightened  Romans  fancied  they  had  nothing  but  two 


FRONTIER  BY  THE  VISIGOTHS.  27 

holes  in  the  middle  of  their  faces.  They  seemed  hardly 
to  deserve  the  name  of  human  beings ;  nothing  could 
resist  them.  The  East-Goths  surrendered  and  were 
forced  to  join  the  Huns  in  their  attack  upon  the  West- 
Gpths. 

^These  latter  in  their  despair  begged  the  Roman  Em- 
peror Valens  to  give  them  shelter,  and  were   T]    w 
allowed  to  come  over  and  settle  in  Moesia.   Goths  cross 
It  was  understood  that  the  Romans  should  t  e    anu  e' 
furnisli^them    with    weapons  and    supplies,   for   which 
they  should  pay  by  defending  the  river  against  any  new 
attack.    The  West-Goths  seem  to  have  kept  their  part  of 
the  agree m en t,~trair  the  Roman  officers  were  careless  in 
their  treatment  of  the  barbarians.     One  trouble  led  to 
another,  until  finally  the  Germans  broke  out  into  open 
revolt.     The  Emperor  Valens,  without  waiting  for  any 
help  from  the  West,  gave  oattle  near  Adri-  Battle  of 
anople,  in  Thrace,  and  was  utterly  defeated.  Adrianople. 
He  himself  was  killed  in  the  retreat,  and  the 
Visigoths  found  themselves  suddenly  within  the  Em- 
pire, with  no  army  to  oppose  them,  and,  as  it  seemed, 
the  promise  of   endless  plunder. 

Thp  battle  of  AdHapoplft  was  one  of  the  decisive  bat- 
tles of  the  world.^JLt  taught  the^  Germans  Effects  oPtke 
that  they  could  beat  the  legions  in  open  fight  battle' 
and  that  henceforth  it  was  for  them  to  name  the  price  of 
peace.  It  broke  once  for  all  the  Rhine-Danube  fron- 
tier. Swarms  of  fighting  men,  Ostrogoths  as  well  as  Vis- 
igoths, came  pouring  into  the  Empire.  At  the  death 
of  Valens,  who  had  been  the  ruler  of  the  East,  his 
nephew  Gratian  was  left  as  ruler  of  the  West.  He 
had  sense  enough  to  see  that  he  could  not  hope  to  gov- 


28  THE  BREAKING   OF  THE 

ern  the  whole  of  the  vast  Roman  Empire,  and  called 
Theodosius  upon  Theodosius,  a  Spaniard  and  a  man  of 
379-395.  well-proven  ability,  to  take  the  government 
of  the  East.  The  political  genius  of  Theodosius  saved 
the  Empire  from  ruin.  He  saw  that  it  was  hopeless  to 
think  of  driving  out  the  Germans,  and  that  the  best 
way  to  manage  them  was  to  keep  them  quarrelling  with 
each  other.  He  made  treaties  by  which  the  Visigoths 
were  given  lands  in  Thrace,  and  the  Ostrogoths  in  Pan- 
nonia,  between  the  Mur  and  the  Danube.  They  were 
to  receive  regular  pay  in  money  and  were  to  defend  the 
frontier.  Their  vanity  was  tickled  with  the  fine-sound- 
ing name  of  "  allies  "  (FoederaW),  and  their  leaders  were 
placed  in  the  highest  positions  in  the  state.  The  confi- 
dential minister  of  Theodosius  was  a  German,  a  Vandal 
named  Stilicho,  son  of  a  chieftain  who  had  served  with 
his  "  chestnut-haired  squadrons  "  in  the  armies  of  Va- 
.-  _,   o        lens.    But  the  Gothic  warriors  were  not  long 

Alanc,  king  t  ° 

of  the  to  be  bound  with  paper  chains.     There  were 

always  some  among  them  who  despised  the 

service  of  Rome  and  longed  to  be  masters  instead  of 

servants.     This  restless  ambition  for  conquest  brought 

to  the  front  the  greatest  leader  of  the  Visigothic  name, 

the   famous    Alaric.       With    him    for   their 

leader  the  nation  took   up   its   march   once 

more,  with  the  fixed  purpose  of  finding  lands  in  the 

very  heart  of  the  Empire,  where  they  might  settle  once 

for  all.     Their  taste  of  Roman  ways  seems  only  to  have 

made  them  want  more,  and  they  were  already  losing 

.  .     f      something  of  the  wildness  they  had  brought 

the  Empire,      from  their  northern  home.     The  great  Theo- 

395.         dosius  died  just  as  Alaric  was  chosen  leader  of 


FRONTIER  BY  THE  VISIGOTHS.  29 

the  Western  Goths.  His  empire  was  divided  between 
his  two  sons,  Arcadius  in  the  East,  and  Honorius  in  the 
West,  and  was  never  again  to  be  united  under  one 
hand.  The  sons  were  a  wretched  pair.  With  ruin 
staring  him  in  the  face,  Honorius  shut  himself  up  in 
Ravenna  and  left  the  defence  of  the  empire  to  Stilicho. 

Alaric  at  first  fixed  his  attention  upon  Greece,  and 
moved  his  army  southward  into  the  centre  of  Alaric  in 
the  Peloponnesus.  Arcadius,  the  Eastern  Em-  Greece- 
peror,  had  no  force  sufficient  to  resist  the  assault,  and 
Greece  was  only  saved  by  a  brilliant  exploit  of  Stilicho, 
who  crossed  the  Adriatic  Sea  and  shut  Alaric  up  within 
the  province  of  Arcadia.     He  dared  not  risk  a  battle, 
however,  and  was  glad  to  purchase  the  retreat  of  Alaric 
by  a  renewed  commission  as  defender  of  Illyria.     Noth- 
ing could  have  been  better  for  Alaric.     He  gave  up 
Greece  only  to  be  quartered  in  a  rich  and  defenceless 
province  close  upon  the  borders  of  Italy.    Every  step  of 
the  Visigothic  conquerors  shows  them  to  be  ,  m    . 
emerging  more  and  more  from  the  condition 
of  mere  fighters,  and  becoming,  in  a  truer  sense  of  the 
word,  a  nation. 

Their  new  quarters  sufficed  for  them  only  about  three 
years.    Again  the  nation  in  arms  moved  west- 
ward into  the  rich  valley  of  the  Po.      The 
Empire  was  now  fully  alarmed.      From   all  the  most 
distant  frontiers   the   legions  were  summoned  in  hot 
haste  to  Rome,   and  formed  by  Stilicho  into  a  great 
army  with  which,  he  waited  for  Alaric  near  Defeated  at 
Pollentia,  on  the  river  Tanarus.     A  terrific  Pollentia'402' 
battle  was  fought  here,  in  which.  Alaric  was,  if  not 
badly  beaten,  at  least  turned  back  in  his  career.      He 


30  THE  BREAKING   OF  THE 

was  driven  out  of  Italy,  and  sought  shelter  in  Pan- 
nonia.  The  government  actually  believed  that  the 
barbarians  were  disposed  of  forever.  It  had  no  con- 
ception of  the  masses  of  men  waiting  their  oppor- 
tunity to  pour  through  the  breach  of  the  defenceless 
Murder  of  frontier.  Honorius  kept  on  amusing  himself 
Stilicho,  408.  at  Ravenna.  Until  now  he  had  shown  for 
Stilicho  the  respect  and  confidence  due  to  the  sa- 
viour of  Rome.  Stilicho  had  married  the  niece  and 
adopted  daughter  of  Theodosius,  and  had  given  his 
own  two  daughters  successively  in  marriage  to  Hon- 
orius. It  seemed  as  if  his  fortunes  were  bound  up 
with  the  very  life  of  the  imperial  family.  But  now,  at 
the  very  moment  when  the  only  man  who  could  hold  a 
Roman  army  against  the  barbarians  was  more  needed 
than  ever,  the  mad  folly  which  was  destroying  the 
Empire  more  surely  than  her  outward  enemies,  drove 
Honorius  to  cause  the  murder  of  his  faithful  servant. 
Some  jealous  rival  had  made  him  believe  that  so  much 
power  was  dangerous  to  his  tottering  throne. 

Alaric,  away  up  in  Illyria,  knew  better  how  to  value 
Alaric  march-  the  only  man  who  had  ever  defeated  him. 
es  on  Rome,  The  death  of  Stilicho  was  the  signal  for  a 
new  invasion.  The  GothicTTeSntgr,  "Cnristian  though  he 
was,  believed  himself  to  be  in  the  hands  of  Destiny. 
A  voice,  it  was  said,  had  come  to  him  out  of  a  sacred 
grove,  saying,  "penetrates  ad  urbem"  "you  will  reach 
the  city,"  and  he  knew  that  the  "  city  "  could  be  none 
other  than  Rome.  The  Goths,  strengthened  by  their 
six  years  of  rest,  swept  rapidly  southward  past  Ravenna, 
where  Honorius  still  kept  his  useless  self,  marched 
straight  to  Rome,  and  began  a  regular  siege.     It  was 


FRONTIER  BY  THE  VISIGOTHS.  31 

the  first  time  for  eight  hundred  years  that  Rome  had 
seen  a  foreign  enemy  before  her  walls.  The  First  siege  of 
citizens  could  not  yet  believe  that  the  holy  Rome> 
city  was  in  danger.  Not  until  hunger  and  pestilence 
began  to  do  their  awful  work  did  they  send  to  ask 
terms  of  Alaric. 

"  Give  me  all  your  gold,  all  your  silver,  all  your 
movable  property,  and  all  your  barbarian  slaves,  or  the 
siege  goes  on."  "  What,  then,  will  you  leave  us  ? " 
"  Your  lives." 

But  perhaps  Alaric  was  only  in  a  sort  of  grim  humor, 
making  fun  of  the  half-starved  ambassadors.  He  finally 
agreed  to  accept  a  fixed  sum  in  gold,  silver,  silken 
tunics,  scarlet  hides,  and  pepper,  together  with  ample 
lands  in  the  North  of  Italy.  The  mad  young  emperor 
at  Ravenna,  putting  on  a  show  of  courage  when  it 
was  too  late,  refused  to  agree  to  these  terms.  Alaric 
promptly  renewed  the  siege,  but  this  time  in  gecond 
quite  a  different  fashion.  It  is  as  if  a  strange  siese- 
awe  at  the  name  of  Rome  held  him  back  from  actual 
violence.  He  was  in  constant  negotiation  with  the 
citizens,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  set  up  and  main- 
tain for  a  few  months  a  rival  emperor.  He  now  pro- 
posed still  more  moderate  terms,  which  Honorius  again 
refused,  and  the  third  assault  on  Rome  began,  sack  of  Eome, 
A  vigorous  attack  made  a  breach  in  the  walls,  410. 
and  the  city  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  It  is 
curious  to  see  how"  in  the  course  ot  his  long  negotia- 
tions with  the  Romans,  Alaric  had  come  to  be  half  a 
Roman  himself.  He  is  no  longer  the  mere  barbarian 
chieftain,  eager  only  for  a  fight,  and  careless  of  the 
future.     He  is  the  conqueror  of  Rome,  and  feels  him- 


82  THE  BREAKING   OF  THE 

self  somehow  to  be  thus  a  part  of  the  wonderful  civili- 
zation he  sees  about  him.  He  commands  his  followers 
to  respect  the  churches  and  their  property.  We  have 
no  reason  to  believe  that  the  buildings  of  the  city 
suffered  very  greatly.  What  the  Germans  wanted  was 
movable  plunder,  and,  laden  with  this,  they  set  out  for 
the  South  of  Italy.  Rome  after  all  these  months  of 
famine  and  pestilence  was  anything  but  an  agreeable 
residence. 

Besides,  the  Germans  had  not  yet  learned  to  live  in 

cities.  Their  object,  as  shown  by  the  fre- 
Alaric's  plans.  *. 

quent  treaties,  was  to  secure  a  permanent 
home  when  they  should  find  a  country  suited  to  their 
mind.  The  later  historian  of  their  race  says,  that  Alaric 
meant  to  conquer  Sicily,  and  sail  over  to  Africa.  Cer- 
tainly he  gathered  ships  at  Rhegium,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  prevented  only  by  a  storm  from  crossing  to  Mes- 
sina. 

Before  he  could  renew  his  preparations  he  died  sud- 
denly, the  first  great  barbarian  victim  to  the 
deadly  climate  of  Italy,  which  was  to  be  her 
best  defence  against  the  Northern  invader.  The  Visi- 
goths forced  their  Roman  captives  to  turn  the  channel 
of  the  river  Busentum,  dug  their  leader's  grave  in  the 
dry  bed  of  the  stream,  let  the  waters  flow  back,  and 
murdered  all  who  had  done  the  work,  that  the  burial- 
place  of  Alaric  might  forever  remain  a  mystery. 

The  capture  of  Rome  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
Saint  Angus-  the  men  of  that  day.  They  had  been  so 
"Cit011  f16  accustomed  to  think  of  it  as  a  sacred  place, 
God."  that  the  fall  of  the  city  seemed  to  them  like 

the  end  of  the  world.     Some,  either  honest  Pagans  or 


FRONTIER  BY  THE  VISIGOTHS.  38 

luke-warm  Christians,  said  that  it  was  because  the 
ancient  gods  had  been  dishonored,  and  were  thus  re- 
venging themselves.  It  was  in  answer  to  such  people 
that  the  great  Saint  Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  in 
Africa,  wrote  his  famous  book  "  The  City  of  God,"  in 
which  he  tried  to  prove  that  the  great  calamity  was 
not  due  to  Christianity,  but,  that  being  only  a  city  of 
this  world,  Rome  must  fall ;  while  the  true  city  of  God 
should  abide  forever. 

How  much  the  Emperor  Honorius  cared  for  Rome 
we  may  judge  from  a  story  which,  whether  Honorius  and 
true  or  not,  shows  what  was  thought  of  him  ^^ 
at  the  time.  An  officer  rushed  into  his  presence,  and 
told  him  that  Rome  had  perished.  ;t  What !  "  cried  the 
Emperor,  "she  was  feeding  from  my  hand  an  hour  ago." 
He  was  much  relieved  when  told  that  it  was  not  his 
favorite  hen  "  Roma,"  but  only  the  capital  of  his  em- 
pire that  had  perished. 

Alaric  is  to  be  remembered  as  the  man  who  pointed 
out  the  way  which  so  many  others  of  his  race   Th  w 
were   to   follow.     He   was  a   great   militarv  Goths  move 

,  ,- —        T"3? t "         on  into  Spain, 

genius,  whose  equal  was  not  round  among 
the  many  leaders  who  built  upon  his  plans.  We  may 
believe  that  upon  this  last  expedition  the  great  bulk  of 
the  property  of  the  Visigoths  had  been  left  behind  with 
the  women  and  children  somewhere  in  the  Alpine  coun- 
try, and  it  may  have  been  this  which  led  them  now  to 
give  up  the  African  plan,  and  under  the  lead  of  Adolf, 
brother-in-law  of  Alaric,  to  march  out  of  Italy  as  they 
had  come  in. 

More  and  more  the  distinction  between  Roman  and 
barbarian  disappears.    The  sister  of  Honorius,  the  beau- 


34:  BREAKING  OF  THE  FRONTIER. 

tiful  and  learned  Placidia,  taken  captive  in  Rome,  mar- 
ries the  Gothic  leader.  Adolf  brings  the  Visigoths  back 
412i  into  the  service  of  the  Empire.  They  pass 
414.  over  into  Gaul,  and  thence  across  the  Pyre- 
nees into  Spain.  Already"parts  of  various  German  tribes 
had  taken  the  same  road,  and  were  helping  themselves 
to  the  lands  of  the  Empire  on  both  sides  of  the  moun- 
tains. Under  Wallia,  the  successor  of  Adolf,  the  Visi- 
goths, serving  as  the  allies  of  Rome,  subdued  these  rival 
invaders,  and  brought  back  the  country  for  a  time  to 
the  Roman  allegiance. 

The  price  of  this  service  was  a  new  and  final  grant  of 
land  in  Spain  and  the  South  of  Gaul,  extend- 
permanent  ing  from  the  river  Loire  beyond  the  Pyrenees 
and  over  the  greater  part  of  the  peninsula. 
Here  the  wanderings  of  the  Visigoths  came  to  an  end. 
They  made  use  of  what  they  had  learned  from  Rome  to 
found  a  great  and  prosperous  kingdom  with  Toulouse 
as  its  capital.  It  was  to  last  entire  until  the  beginning 
of  the  sixth  century,  when  the  growth  of  the  all-conquer- 
ing Franks  on  the  northern  border  reduced  its  Gallic 
portion  to  a  Frankish  province.  The  Spanish  portion 
kept  up  an  independent  life  until  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighth  century  the  storm  of  the  Mohammedan  inva- 
sion from  the  south  swept  it  out  of  existence.  With  the 
Visigothic  occupation  Spain  and  Southern  France  were 
lost  to  Rome  forever.  We  must  now  leave  these  pio- 
neers of  the  German  invasion  and  turn  to  the  fortunes 
of  some  of  their  kinsmen  who  were  seeking  in  the  same 
way  lands,  wealth,  and  power. 


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trt  P      K 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    VANDALS    AND    BURGUNDIANS. 

Authorities  :  —  Procopius  :  de  hello  Vandalico,  in  two  books.  An 
account  of  the  conquest  of  the  Vandals  by  Justinian,  with  a 
long  introductory  narrative  of  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom 
and  the  career  of  Gaiseric.  —  Victor  Vitensis :  historia  persecu- 
tionis  Africanae.  Contemporary  account  of  the  Arian  persecu- 
tion under  Gaiseric  (c.  479). 

Modern  Works  :  —  As  above. 

We  remember  that  the  Roman  armies  which  met 
and  turned  back  the  first  assault  of  Alaric  in  Italy,  were 
made  up  of  soldiers  hastily  called  in  from  their  posts  all 
along  the  historic  line  of  the  Rhine  and  Danube.  Thus 
the  frontier  was  left  unguarded,  and  troop  after  troop  of 
the  barbarians  came  now  pouring  into  the  Empire.  We 
cannot  follow  them  all,  but  only  such  as  founded  states, 
and  thus  helped  in  the  making  of  modern  Europe. 

Near  the  Goths,  along  the  Baltic  shore,  we  first  hear 
of  the  Vandals,  and  can  trace  them  with  some   The  journey 
certaih^^as^Key^move  by  slow  stages  in  a  oftne 
southeastern  and  then  western  course.      At 
the  time  of   the  battle  of  Adrianople  they 
were  in  Pannonia,  on  the  Danube,  where  they  had  long 
been  stationed  as  faithful  allies  and  defenders  of  the 
frontier.     The  example  of  Alaric  set  them  in  motion. 
They  moved  rapidly  to  the  northwest,  carrying 
along  with  them  their  kinsmen,  the  Suevi,  and 
a  strange,  un-German  nation,  the  Alani.     They  crossed 


86  THE   VANDALS  AND  BURGTJNDIANS. 

the  border  again  near  Mainz  (Mayence),  and  made  a 
long   circuit   through   the   North   of    Gaul,   and   then 

pressed  steadily  southward  into  Spain.    Here 

we  have  already  referred  to  them  as  those 
kinsmen  whom  the  Visigoths  found  and  partially  con- 
quered in  the  name  of  Rome.  Thus  far  the  Vandals 
had  not  played  a  very  prominent  part.  Where  we  hear 
of  them  fighting  they  generally  got  the  worst  of  it.  But 
now,  after  the  Visigoths  had  brought  Spain  into  a  com- 
paratively peaceful  condition,  their  great  chance  came. 

You  will  see  by  the  map  how  easy  it  is  to 
AMcaCI429.  °    cross  from  Spain  to  Africa,  so  easy  that  no 

power  has  ever  held  the  one  without  wanting 
the  other  as  well.  Africa  was  a  very  rich  grain-producing 
country,  and  was  often  called  the  "  granary  of  Rome," 
because  Italy  was  incapable  of  raising  grain  enough  to 
feed  itself.  The  plan  which  Alaric  had  failed  to  carry 
out  was  to  be  taken  up  by  the  Vandals  of  Spain.  They 
are  said  to  have  been  "invited '"  by  a  Roman  officer  out 
of  revenge  for  some  injury  received  from  his  government. 
That  the  invitation  did  not  need  to  be  very  pressing  we 
may  judge  from  the  rest  of  the  story:  that  before  the 
Vandals  had  got  very  far  on  their  journey  the  officer 
repented,  and  would  gladly  have  stopped  them,  but 
found  it  was  too  late.  The  Vandals,  under  their  great- 
est leader  Gaiseric  (Genseric),  overran  the  provinces 
of  Mauretania  and  Numidia,  and  began  the  siege  of  the 
fortress  of  Hippo. 

While  the  siege  was  going  on,  Saint  Augustine, 
then  an  aged  man,  was  at  his  post,  writing  his  last 
Saint  Angus-  work  and  comforting  the  multitude  of  other 
tine  in  Hippo,  bishops  who  had  flocked  into  the  city  from 


THE   VANDALS  AND  BURGUNDIANS.  37 

the  desolated  provinces.  He  died  early  in  the  siege. 
Hippo  resisted  valiantly,  but  was  finally  given 
up  to  Gaiseric  by  the  Roman  government 
on  condition  that  he  would  stop  where  he  was  and 
make  no  further  conquest  in  Africa.  Of  course  the 
promise  was  given  and  broken.  Just  ten  years  from 
the  time  when  they  had  left  the  shores  of  Spain,  the 
Vanclals  entered  Carthage,  and  were  thus  mas- 

439i 

ters  of  the  whole  African  province.     Almost 
at  once  we  find  this  people,  who  for  generations  had 
not  caught  sight  of  the  seat  becoming  a  peo- 
ple £f  sailors.     Perhaps  they  were  only  going  ™J  JjJJ 
back  to  a  mode  of  life  which  their  ancestors 
had   followed  upon  the   shores  of  the  Baltic.     Again, 
after  an  interval  of  six  hundred  years,  Carthage  became 
the  capital  of  a  great  seafaring  and  fighting  people.    The 
Vandals  became  a  race  of  bold  and  successful  pirates, 
putting  out  in  their  light  vessels,  and  running  up  on  the 
shores  of  Italy,  or  Gaul,  or  Greece,  wherever  they  saw  a 
chance  for  plunder.     The  story  goes  that  Gaiseric,  set- 
ting out  on  one  of  these  expeditions,  was  asked  by  his 
pilot  which  way  he  should  steer.     "  Wherever  there  are 
people  with  whom  God  is  angry,"  was  the  answer.     At 
home  we  find  the  Vandals  settling  to  an  orderly  life, 
dividing  the  lands  of  the  Romans  among  themselves, 
and  losing,  just  as  the  Visigoths  had  done,  much  of 
their  Tudeness,  by    contact    with   Roman    civilization. 
But  they  were  a  common  terror  to  all  the  dwellers  on 
the  Mediterranean,  and  have  left  such  a  sorry  name  in 
history  that  when  we  want  to  speak  of  peo-  "vandai- 
ple  plundering  and  destroying  without  any  ism-" 
real  political  purpose,  we  call  that  "  Vandalism." 


38  THE   VANDALS  AND  BURGUNDIANS. 

We  can  describe  only  one  of  these  pirate  raids.  In 
the  year  455  a  bitter  quarrel  in  that  wretched  imperial 
family  of  which  Honorius  had  been  a  fair  specimen,  led 
the  Empress  Eudoxia  to  send  word  to  Gaiseric  that  he 
would  greatly  oblige  her  if  he  would  bring  over  his 
The  Vandals  Vandals  and  plunder  the  city  of  Rome.  The 
sack  Bome,      Vandals    came  and  spent   a    delightful  fort- 

45*>.  night  in  hunting  out  and  carcying  off  every 
valuable  thing  they  could  lay  their  hands  on.  So  far 
as  we  know,  they  did  not  destroy  buildings  any  more 
than  Alaric's  Visigoths  had  done  ;  but  we  are  certain 
that  they  did  carry  away  with  them  hundreds  of  Roman 
citizens  to  serve  them  as  slaves.  You  will  understand 
how  low  Rome  had  sunk  when  all  this  could  happen 
without  a  single  blow  being  struck  in  her  defence. 
Only  the  venerable  Bishop  Leo  had  gone  out  alone  and 
unarmed  to  meet  the  pirate  king,  and  to  ask  of  him  as 
favorable  terms  as  possible  for  the  defenceless  city. 
The  Vandal  kingdom  in  Africa  was  to  last  after  this 
about  eighty  years,  until  it  should  be  conquered  by  the 
armies  of  the  Roman  emperor,  Justinian,  a  successor 
of  Arcadius,  the  son  of  Theodosius. 

P.OA 

We  are  fortunate  in  knowing  pretty  nearly 
how  large  the  Vandal  nation  was  at  the  time  it  left  the 

shores  of  Spain.  Probably  about  one  hun- 
theVanda°ls.     ^red  thousand  souls,  which  means  an  army 

of  not  more  than  twenty  or  twenty-five  thou- 
sand fighting  men,  had  made  this  great  conquest  over 
many  times  their  number  of  Romans.  So  we  see  that 
it  was  not  numbers,  but  bravery,  that  was  bringing 
Rome  down  from  her  lofty  height. 


THE   VANDALS  AND  BURGUNDIANS.  39 

The  Burgundians.     Close  neighbors  of  the  Vandals 
and  the  Goths  in  the  marshes  of  the  lower  Vistula,  the 
Burgimdians  moved  with  them  on  their  jour-   settlement  in 
nev  IsoTltfrwafcT     We  hear   of  them  on  the     Gaul» 
Rhine  frontier  near  the  end  of  the  third  century,  engaged 
in  war  with  the  Emperor  Probus.     Early  in 
the  fifth  century  they  received  a  grant  of  land 
from  the  Emperor  Honorius,  and  seem  to  have  begun 
their  settled  life  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Worms. 
From  here  they  began  to  spread  themselves  out  west- 
ward, and  rapidly  overran   the   fertile   valleys  of    the 
Rhone  and  Sacme.     This  happened  not  long  after  the 
Visigoths  had  taken  possession  of  the  southwestern  part 
of  Gaul,  and  before  the  Franks  had  begun  their  advance 
beyond  the  Somme. 

From  that  day  to  this  these  valleys  have  been  known 
as  the  country  of  Burgundy.    The  people  had   conquered  by- 
taken  on  the  Arian  form  of  Christianity  at  Franks, 
just  about  the  time  of  their  occupation,  and  within  two 
generations  had  found  it  necessary  to  put  their  laws 
into  a  written  shape.     The  most  famous  man  of   the 
race  is  the  king  Gundobald,  under  whom  the  laws  were 
written.     In  his  time,  also,  the  first  struggles  with  the 
victorious    Franks   were    beginning,  in    the 
course   of  which   the    Burgundian  kingdom 
was  entirely  broken  up  and  became  a  Frankish  prov- 
ince.    A  further  result  of   this  conflict  was  that  the 
Burgimdians  were  led  to  change  their  form  of  religious 
belief,  and  became  devoted  Catholics. 

Hardly  any  of  the  Germanic  tribes  had  a  shorter 
independent  life  than  the  Burgimdians,  and  yet  no 
other  has  left  so  strong  an  impress  of  itself  upon  the 


40  THE   VANDALS  AND  BURGUNDIANS. 

traditions  of  the  German  race.  You  know  that  those 
Burgundians  wonderful  poems,  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  of 
in  legend.  Homer,  put  into  writing  at  a  time  when  the 
Greek  nation  had  reached  a  high  point  of  civilization, 
describe  events  which  happened  away  back  so  far  that 
there  is  no  historical  knowledge  of  them  whatever,  and 
that  long  before  these  poems  were  written  down  they 
were  sung  by  wandering  minstrels  through  all  the  lands 
of  Greece.      The  same   thing   happened   in   Germany. 

Long  after  the  time  we  are  now  studying, 
centuries  2t     there  appeared  in  written  form  several  long 

poems,  not  unlike  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey, 
describing  events  of  which  the  memory  had  only  been 
preserved  by  word  of  mouth.  The  most  famous  of 
these  poems  is  the  Song  of  the  Nibelungen,  and  it  is 
among  the  Burgundians  that  the  events  described  are 
said  to  have  occurred.  It  is  clear  that,  by  the  time  the 
songs  were  written,  the  knowledge  of  the  differences  of 
race  had  almost  disappeared.  Burgundians,  Ostrogoths, 
Franks,  and  even  Huns  are  all  treated  as  if  they  were 
the  same  sort  of  people,  but  still  it  is  equally  clear  that 
the  main  interest  of  the  story  centres  about  the  people 
of  the  Burgundians. 

A  further  value  of  the  Burgundian  history  for  us  is 
B  ndian  in  the  light  thrown  by  its  laws  upon  the  deal- 
laws,  ings  of  the  Germanic  conquerors  with  their 
Roman  subjects.  Hardly  anywhere  was  the  contrast 
greater  or  the  necessity  of  making  the  laws  of  the  two 
peoples  act  harmoniously  more  evident.  We  shall  come 
to  this  point  again  in  the  chapter  on  the  Germanic 
laws. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    INVASION    OF    THE    HUNS. 

Authorities  :  —  References  in  Ammianus,  etc.  —  Priscus :  Ac- 
count of  his  embassy  to  the  court  of  Attila,  a  fragment.  — 
Jordanes,  from  Cassiodorus.  —  Apollinaris  Sidonius.  poet  in 
Gaul ;  his  letters  are  especially  valuable  for  description  of  life 
at  the  time  of  Attila. 

Modern  Works: — See  above,  especially  Hodgkin.  Bk.  II. — 
Scheffel :  Ekkehard,  trans,  in  the  "Seaside  Library"  ;  describes 
a  Hungarian  invasion  of  the  tenth  century,  which  must  have 
been  much  like  those  of  the  Huns  in  the  fifth. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Huns  were__no_t  a 
German  people,  but  were  far  more  nearly  related  to  the 
present  Turks  than  to  ourselves.  We  must  speak  of 
them  here  in  order  to  understand  the  movements  of  the 
German  races  in  which  they  were  often  a  very  impor- 
tant agency.  We  have  already  seen  them  The  terror  of 
just  emerging  from  the  deserts  of  Asia,  and  the  Hun. 
driving  the  Gothic  people  into  conflict  with  Rome. 
For  a  number  of  years  they  hover  like  a  distant  cloud 
about  the  frontiers  of  the  Empire.  The  ex- 
cited  imagination  of  the  Roman  writers 
described  them  as  the  offspring  of  demons.  Their 
horrid  appearance,  their  filthy  habits,  their  swiftness 
of  motion,  their  mode  of  fighting,  all  combined  to 
give  them  a  most  uncanny  reputation.  They  seem 
to  have  had  not  the  leastjm  owl  edge  of  agrWrtture^ 
but  to  have  been  wholly  fljyrtiTJngr,  hrm fringe  a i it!  wan- 
dering (nomad)  people. 


42  THE  INVASION  OF  THE  HUNS. 

The  Huns  were  at  first  generally  on  friendly  terms 
The  Huns  witla  Rome  and  were  willing  to  serve  as  her 
under  Attila,  defenders  against  her  German  enemies.  It  is 
not  until  these  Germans  have  passed  on  over  the  border 
and  found  homes  within  the  Empire,  that  the  new-com- 
ers enter  into  closer  relations  with  the  Roman  govern- 
ment. They  take  on  at  once  a  tone  of  insolence  which 
marks  all  their  future  dealings,  and  which  may  go  far  to 
explain  their  astonishing  effect  upon  both  barbarian  and 
Roman.     When  Attila  became  their  leader. 

433  •  i     ■    i 

the  main  body  of  the  people  was  living  in 
what  is  now  Austria  and  Hungary,  but  their  power  was 
felt  so  far  beyoncT  tKat  incredible  stories  were  spread 
abroad  of  the  size  of  Attila's  kingdom. 

Certain  it  is  that  this  wild  man  of  the  steppes  began 
to  have  dreams  of  a  great  empire  like  that  of  Rome. 
He  made  for  himself  a  capital  somewhere  near  Pesth,  on 
the  Danube,  and  made  terms  with  Rome  as  with  an  in- 
ferior power.  The  emperors  were  glad  to  buy  off  this 
most  dangerous  neighbor  by  an  enormous  annual  trib- 
ute. A  Roman  princess,  Honoria,  daughter  of  Placidia, 
in  a  fit  of  passionate  anger,  sent  a  ring  to  Attila,  asking 
to  be  considered  as  his  promised  wife.  Think  with  what 
horror  a  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria  would  look  upon  a 
Bedouin  chief  as  a  possible  husband,  and  you  will  have 
some  idea  of  how  low  the  court  of  Rome  had  fallen. 

For  a  few  years  longer  Attila  was  content  to 
The  army  of  strengthen  his  hold  upon  the  scattered  Ger- 
Attila.  man   tribes    which   had   not   yet   moved    to 

their  final  settlement.  He  was  thus  able  to  appear, 
just  as  our  Anglo-Saxon  forefathers  were  setting  out 
for  England,  at  the  head  of  an  enormous  army  made 


THE  INVASION  OF  THE  HUNS.  43 

up  of  Huns,   East-Goths,   and  many   other   Germanic 
troops,  ready  to  follow  the  leader  who  seemed 
most  likely  to  lead  them  to  glory  and  to  wealth. 

The  West-Goths  had  been  settled  for  more  than  a  „ 
generation  in  the  South  of  Gaul.  In  the  The  army  of 
North  and  East  of  that  country  there  was  A6tixxs' 
still  a  shadow  of  Roman  power  under  a  brave  and  skil- 
ful general,  Aetius,  the  last  great  man  of  the  Western 
Empire.  It  w^as_againfit.  this  Re-maH-remnant^bout  the 
cities  of  Orleans  and  Soissons  that  Attila  aimed  his 
blow.  He  tried  his  best  to  get  the  Visigoths  to  join 
him,  but  the  arguments  of  Aetius  were  stronger,  and  the 
Visigoths,  once  the  enemies,  now  became  the  firm  allies, 
of  Rome.  They  marched  to  the  north  under  their  aged 
king,  Theodoric,  carrying  with  them  also  a  band  of 
Alani,  who  had  been  settled  near  Valencia,  on  the  river 
Rhone.  Other  German  troops  joined  with  them.  A 
sense  of  common  danger  seemed  to  be  drawing  all  tKeSe" 
scattered  fragments  of  nations  into  one  or  the  other  of 
these  mighty  armies  which  were  forming  for  one  of  the 
most  terrible  conflicts  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Attila  came  across  the  Rhine  into  what  is  now  Belgium, 
and  then  turned  toward  the  south,  destroying  Attila  in 
all  that  stood  in  his  way.  Paris,  then  a  little  GauL 
village  on  an  island  in  the  Seine,  was  not  worth  his 
attention  and  escaped,  but  many  another  fair  city,  with 
its  still  active  Roman  life,  was  utterly  destroyed.  At 
Orleans?  on  the  Loire,  the  first  check  was  met.  The 
people  shut  their  gates,  and  led  on  by  their  brave 
bishop,  resisted  every  assault  until  the  coming  of  Aetius 
and  Theodoric  the  Visigoth  drove  the  besieging  army 
from   the  walls.     Attila  set  out  on  his  return  to  the 


44  THE  INVASION  OF  THE  HUNS. 

Rhine,  through  a  country  exhausted  of  provisions,  and 
Attila  retreats  ^vith  his  enemies  following  close  upon  his 
from  Orleans.  rear  Probably  it  was  this  pursuit  of  Aetius 
which  made  the  Hunnish  leader  pause  somewhere  near 
Chalons,  on  the  Marne,  and  decide  to  fight.1 

The  story  of  the  great  battle  is  told  by  the  Gothic 
The  battle  of  historian  Jordanes,  who  wrote  about  one 
Chalons,  hundred  years  later.  He  at  least  believed 
°  it  to  be  the  most  awful  combat  the  world  had 
ever  seen.  The  armies  faced  each  other  in  an  immense 
plain,  with  a  little  hill  on  one  side  of  it.  Attila  himself 
took  the  centre  of  the  Hunnish  line,  with  his  German 
allies  on  the  two  flanks.  On  the  other  side,  the  centre  was 
formed  of  the  Alani  who  were  the  least  to  be  counted 
upon,  with  the  Visigoths  and  the  Romans  on  the  wings. 
The  Romans  succeeded  in  getting  first  upon  the  hill, 
and  from  there  poured  down  upon  the  enemy.  From 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  until  nightfall  of  a  sum- 
mer day  the  awful  battle  raged  back  and  forth  across 
the  plain.  So  fearful  was  the  slaughter,  says  Jordanes, 
that  a  brook  running  through  the  middle  of  the  field 
was  swelled  to  a  torrent  by  the  blood  of  fallen  men,  and 
whoever  drank  of  it  died  poisoned.  He  puts  the  num- 
ber of  the  killed  at  162,000,  not  to  mention  15,000  killed 
in  a  skirmish  the  night  before.  Probably  these  figures 
are  an  enormous  exaggeration.  They  were,  however, 
magnified  by  later  writers  to  300,000. 

All  this  shows  how  tremendous  the  conflict  seemed 
to  the  men  of  the  day.  The  very  dead,  it  was  said, 
rose  from  the  ground  in  the  night  and  kept  up  the  bat- 

1  The  exact  location  of  the  battle  is  a  matter  of  controversy  among 
scholars. 


THE  INVASION  OF  THE  HUNS.  45 

tie  in  mid  air  with  their  ghostly  swords.  So  close  was 
the  struggle  that  neither  side  knew  which  was  the 
victor!  The  Romans  and  Visigoths  were  ready  to  go 
on  fighting  with  the  dawn  of  day,  but  Attila  dared  not 
risk  a  fresh  encounter.  He  drew  his  scattered  army 
together  and  continued  his   retreat. 

We  may  well  ask  what  would  have  been  the  future 
of  Europe  if  Attila  had  won  the  great  battle.     Not  so 
very  different,  probably  ;  for  all  that  goes  to  w     , . 
make  up  permanent  order  among  men  was  on  "decisive 
the  side  of  the  Gallic  allies,  while  the  Huns    attle"? 
were  only  wild  destroyers  of  order.     Sooner  or  later  the 
great  orderly  forces  of  the  western  world  must  have 
come  uppermost,  as  we  shall  now  soon  see  them  begin 
to  do. 

After  his  great  defeat  in  Gaul,  Attila  did  not  at 
once  give  up  his  dream  of  conquest,  but  after  ^^  invades 
a  winter's  rest  in  Pannonia,  he  set  out  for  Italy» 452, 
Italy.  The  great  and  prosperous  city  of  Aquileia,  at 
the  head  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  stood  in  his  way.  It  had 
never  yet  been  taken  by  storm,  though  it  had  been  sev- 
eral times  besieged.  Attila  forced  its  surrender  after  a 
long  and  obstinate  resistance.  We  must  remember  this 
capture  of  Aquileia,  because  it  was  the  means  Foundation  of 
of  starting  one  of  the  most  famous  cities  in  Venice- 
the  world.  The  fugitives  from  this  and  other  cities 
destroyed  by  Attila  sought  refuge  in  the  scattered 
islands  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Piave,  and  out  of 
these  settlements  grew  after  a  long  time  the  wonderful 
city  of  Venice. 

The  Hunnish  army  swept  on  to  the  south  and  west, 
through  the  lovely  valley  of  the  Po,  where  most  of  the 


46  THE  INVASION  OF  THE  HUNS. 

cities,  to  escape  the  fate  of  Aquileia,  opened  their  gates 
0  without  a  blow.     His  way  led  through  Padua, 

Lombardy.  Verona,  and  Brescia  to  Milan  and  Pavia. 
The  whole  country  north  of  the  Apennines  was  in  the 
hands  of  Attila.  While  he  was  debating  whether  to 
follow  inthe  steps  of  Alaric,  and  tempt  the  same  fate 
which  had  destroyed  the  great  Visigoth,  an  embassy 
Embassy  of  from  Rome  arrived  in  his  camp.  At  the 
Pope  Leo.  head  of  the  messengers  was  the  Roman 
Bishop  Leo,  who  had  come  as  head  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  to  beg  mercy  of  the  heathen  conqueror. 

We  meet  here  one  of  the  mysteries  of  history.  A 
triumphant  invader  driven  on  by  desire  to  avenge  a 
Wh  did  terrible  defeat,  who  thus  far  had  respected 
Attila  nothing,  before  whom  all  Italy  lay  open,  and 

who  knew  how  weak  were  any  possible 
chances  of  resistance,  suddenly  stops,  turns  about,  and 
leads  his  victorious  army  home  again.  The  legend  says 
that  while  the  holy  man  Leo  was  talking  with  Attila, 
suddenly  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  Saint  Peter  and 
Saint  Paul  appeared  before  the  terrified  heathen  to 
enforce  the  words  of  the  bishop.  Was  it  some  such 
terror  as  this  ?  Was  it  the  majesty  and  dignity  of  the 
venerable  priest  ?  Was  it  the  thought  of  Alaric,  or  was 
it  the  fear  that  his  army  of  light  horsemen,  who  had 
never  yet  fought  except  in  the  open  plain,  might  be 
crushed  by  a  sudden  assault  in  the  narrow  passes  of 
the  Apennines,  or  was  it  finally  the  dreaded  Italian 
fever  which  was  perhaps  already  making  itself  felt? 
It  may  be  that  all  these  causes  combined  to  deliver 
Rome  from  the  danger  of  the  Huns.  We  have  already 
seen  how  three  years  later  this  same  Bishop  Leo  again 


THE  INVASION  OF  THE  HUNS.  47 

went  out  to  meet  the  German  and  Christian  Vandals, 
and  to  sue  to  them  with  less  success  for  the       .  „„ 
safety  of  the  Eternal  City. 

Attila  seems  to  have  left  behind  him  in  Italy  nothing 
but  the  terror  of  his  name.  No  real  government  of  the 
country,  only  the  dread  that  when  supplies  ran  short 
he  might  come  again.  Within  a  year  he  was  dead, 
dying  like  a  dog,  it  was  said,  in  a  drunken  sleep. 
Attila  has  suffered  a  curious  fate  in  history  The  legendary 
and  legend.  For  a  long  time  he  was  known  Attila. 
only  as  the  "  Scourge  of  God,"  the  mere  destroyer ; 
then,  strangely  enough,  he  quite  lost  this  dreadful  char- 
acter and  appears  in  the  great  legends  of  the  German 
people  as  a  very  amiable  character,  not  in  any  way  to 
be  distinguished  from  one  of  their  own  forefathers.  If 
you  have  carefully  followed  his  story,  you  will  not  be  in 
any  great  danger  of  taking  him  for  an  ancestor  of  your 
own. 

Witiithe  death  of  Attila  our  interest  in  the  Hun- 
nish  people  ends^     The  great  bower  which  „,,   „     . , 

?;,  ,      i    ,     ,  !  in  TheHnnnish 

his  will  had  held  together  new  apart  as  soon  kingdom  goes 
as  he  was  gone.     One  great  battle,  a  sort  of  *°  PieoeB' 
free  fight  among  all  the  races  he  had  con- 
trolled, was  enough  to  scatter  them  to  the  four  winds, 
and  to  furnish  the  broken    pieces  out  of  which  new 
kingdoms  were  to  be  built  up. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    GERMANS    IN    ITALY. 

Authorities  :  —  For  Odoacer :  the  "  Anonymus  Valesii  " ;  Vita 
Severini,  by  Eugippius,  a  remarkable  picture  of  manners  during 
the  migrations. 

For  the  Ostrogoths :  Jordanes,  Cassiodorus,  "  Variae,"  a  collec- 
tion of  official  documents,  letters,  etc.,  written  by  Cassiodorus 
while  serving  as  the  minister  of  Theodoric.  Trans,  by  T.  Ilodg- 
kin,  1887.  —  Ennodius,  Panegyricus  Theodorici;  fulsome  flat- 
tery of  the  king,  but  valuable  for  facts.  —  The  "  Calendar  of  Ra- 
venna," a  list  of  dates  and  events,  especially  such  as  affected  the 
city  of  Ravenna,  the  basis  of  several  chronicles.  —  Procopius : 
de  hello  Gothico,  an  account  of  the  recovery  of  Italy  by  Jus- 
tinian. 

For  the  Lombards  :  Origo  gentis  Langobardorum,  by  an  unknown 
Lombard,  c.  680.  —  Paulus  Diaconus,  Historia  Langobardorum. 
Extends  to  the  year  744.  A  collection  of  the  national  tradi- 
tions written  at  the  instance  of  Charlemagne. 

Modern  Works  :  —  Gibbon,  Hodgkin,  Sheppard,  Milman.  — 
E.  A.  Freeman,  The  Goths  at  Ravenna.  Essays,  3d  series. 
1879.  As  yet  nothing  has  been  written  in  English  on  the  his- 
tory of  the  Lombards. 

§  1.  ^The  Fall  of  the  Western  Empire. 

During  all  this  time,  while  Germans  and  Huns  had 
The  East  m  ^een  moving  about  pretty  much  as  they 
Empire  after     pleased  over  the  lands  of  Rome,  the  Empire, 

eo  osms.  diyidgd  jnt0  its  eastern  and  western  halves, 
had  kept  up  a  sort  of  sham  splendor,  which  had  partly 
concealed  its  weakness.     Theodosius,  the  last  emperor 


THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY.  49 

of  the  whole  Roman  world,  had  died  in  395.     In  the 
East,  his  son  Arcadius  ruled  until  408,  and       395i 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Theodosius  II.,  a       408« 
boy   of   seven,  who    grew   up    into   an   indolent   and 
incapable  man.      He  was  governed  during  his  whole 
life  by  his  sister  Pulcheria,  a  woman  of  quite  extraor- 
dinary character,  altogether  the  best  of  the  Theodosian 
family.     When  Theodosius  II.  died,  she  was 
recognized  as  Empress,  and  married  at  once 
the  aged  and  respectable  senator  Marcian.     Pulcheria 
died  in  453,  and  Marcian  in  457.     The  next       453, 
Eastern  Emperor  was  Leo  the  Thracian  (457       457- 
to  474),  and  after  him  came  Zeno  (474  to  491). 

This  Eastern  Empire  had  all  it  could  do  to  keep 
itself  safe  from  the  barbarians.  It  did  this  Not  important 
by  making  disgraceful  treaties  with  them,  in  forus- 
which  the  payment  of  great  sums  of  money  was  always 
the  most  important  point.  We  shall  have  little  to  do 
with  its  history,  because  it  was  not  much  concerned 
with  the  growth  of  the  European  states,  and  that  is 
what  we  care  most  about.  Remember,  however,  that  it 
lived  on,  with  Constantinople  for  its  capital,  until  it 
was  broken  up  by  the  Turks,  in  1453,  a  thousand 
years  later  than  the  time  we  are  now  studying.  Re- 
member also  that  the  theory  of  the  unity  of  the 
Empire  was  never  given  up,  even  when  all  pretence 
of  actual  power  over  the  western  world  had  long  since 
disappeared. 

In  the  Western  Empire  things  went  steadily  from 
bad  to  worse.  Honorius  lived  his  foolish  life  until  423. 
His  sister  Placidia,  whom  we  have  seen  married  to  the 
Visigoth  Adolf,  and  then  sent  home  to  Rome  on  the 


50  THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY. 

death  of  her  husband,  Avas  driven  away  by  the  jealousy 
.„  of  Honorius,  and  went  to  live  with  her  niece 

Attempt  to  ' 

unite  the  two  and  nephew,  Pulcheria  and  Theodosius  II., 
Empires,  ^  constantinople.  Theodosius  II.  had  a 
daughter,  and  Placidia  a  son  by  a  second  husband. 
It  was  hoped  that  by  marrying  these  two  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Empires  might  be  united.  The  marriage 
took  place,  and  the  young  husband  Valentinian  III. 
became  Emperor  of  the  West  under  the  sruar- 

425.  . 

dianship  of  Placidia,  but  the  hoped-for  union 
between  the  two  Empires  did  not  take  place. 

Valentiuian's  reign  of  boyish  incompetence  lasted 
The  West  thirty  years.  He  was  murdered  in  a  private 
after  Valentin-  quarrel.     His  murderer,  Maximus,  seized  at 

once  upon  his  crown  and  Irts-wife,  and  it  was 

this  wife,   Eudoxia,  who,  out  of  hatred  for  her  new 

.    „       husband,  called  over  the  Vandals  from  Africa. 

With  Gaiseric  at  the  gates,  the  people  mur- 
dered Maximus  in  the  street.  The  Empire  now  becomes 
the  mere  sport  of  the  barbarian  soldiery.  Avitus,  com- 
mander of  the  Roman  forces  in  Gaul,  gets  the  Visigoths 
455-456.  to  back  him,  receives  a  sort  of  sanction  from 
Power  of         the   Eastern    Emperor,   and   reigns  fourteen 

months.    Ricimer,  a  Sueve,  grandson  also,  by 

his  mother,  of  a  Visigothic  king,  became  the 
chief  man  of  Western  Rome.  Within  five  years  he  set  up 
and  pulled  down  four  emperors.     In  fact,  he  was  the 

actual  ruler  of  the  state.     When  he  died,  in 

472. 

472,  the  Eastern  Emperor  tried  once  more  to 
manage  the  West  by  supporting  an  emperor  of  his  own 
choice  there,  but  it  was  too  late.  Whoever  could  manage 
the  barbarian,  mainly  German  soldiers  in  the  service  of 


THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY.  51 

the  state,  was  master  of  Rome.    The  official  commander 
of  these  mercenary  troops  was  a  Roman  citizen,  Orestes, 
and   with    their   support   he    made    his    son 
Romulus  emperor.     Bat  the  support  of  these 
hired  troops  was  a  foundation  of  sand.     They  cared  in 
reality  for  no   one's  interest  but  their  own.   Revolt  of  the 
They  were  always  demanding  of  the  govern-  mercenaries. 
ment  greater  and  greater  pay  and  privileges,  and  the 
more  the  government  depended  upon  them,  of  course 
the  louder  were  their  demands.     AlJ.ength  they  went 
so  far  as  to  ask  of  Orestes  thirds  of  all  the  lands  of 
Italy.      We  see  here  that  theseCxerman  "soldiers  had 
come  to  know  the  value  of  a  settled  life.     Nothing  less 
than  actual  homes  among  the  conquered  peoples  would 
satisfy  them.     The  demand  was  flatly  refused. 

One  of  their  number  came  forward,  and  promised  if 
they  would  make  him   their  leader,  to  get  Leadership  of 
them  what  they  wanted.      In  the  good  old  Odoacer. 
German  fashion  they  raised  this  man,  Odoacer,  on  their 
shields,  and  marched  towards  Pavia,  wnere  Orestes  had 
shut  himself  up.      Pavia  was  taken,  Orestes 
was  captured  and  put  to  death,  and  the  poor 
little  emperor,  Romulus  Augustulus,  was  sent  off  to  a 
splendid  villa  near  Naples,  where  he  is  heard  of  no  more, 

Odoacer  might  have  done  as  Ricimer  had,  and  kept 
up  still  longer  the  form  of  a  Roman  Empire 
in  the  West,  but  that  had  been  going  on  long  withoutali 
enough.     The  old  Roman  Empire  was  dead,  emPeror' 
and  it  was  better  for  these  new  possessors  to  bury  it  out 
of  sight  forever.      It  was  only  a  question  whether  they 
were  able  to  put  something  in  place  of  it  which  should 
give  promise  of  a  new  social  and  political  order.     The 


52  THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY. 

*■ 

end  of  the  emperors  was  not  by  any  means  the  end 
of  the  Roman  government.  The  Germans  of  Odoacer 
had  to  make  use  of  all  the  machinery  of  the  imperial 
rulers,  especially  of  their  system  of  tax-collecting.  They 
divided  up  the  great  estates  of  the  rich  Romans,  taking 
in  each  case  a  third  part  for  themselves,  and  either 
living  on  this  land,  or  —  what  was  probably  more  com- 
mon and  more  agreeable  to  them  —  leaving  the  former 
occupant  undisturbed,  and  just  taking  a  third  part  of 
the  product  of  the  estate  every  year. 

You  will  no  longer   find  it  strange  that  the  people 

of  Italy  did  not  rise  up  and  turn  out  these 
agent  of  the  uncomfortable  guests.  With  singular  mod- 
Eastern  Em-     eration    Odoacer   did  not  claim  sovereignty 

for  himself,  but  pretended  to  rule  as  the 
agent  of  the  "Eastern  Emperor,  a  convenient  pre- 
tence which  kept  up  a  show  of  friendliness  between 
East  and  West.  Odoacer's  real  danger  was  not  from  the 
feeble  empire  of  Constantinople,  but  from  other  men  of 
his  own  race. 

§  2.    The  Ostrogothic  Kingdom. 

After  the  break-up  of  the  Hunnish  kingdom  at  the 
death  of  Attila,  the  great  body  of  the  East- 
Gothic  nation  had  settled  in  Pannonia,  whete 
they  could  watch  their  chance  for  a  share  of  the  spoils 
of  Rome.  In  a  few  years  they  found  some  excuse  for 
moving  into  the  neighborhood  of  Constantinople.  The 
policy  of  the  Eastern  Emperors  was  always  to  buy  off 
and  use  their  enemies,  and  thus  the  Ostrogoths  were 
hired  to  defend  the  lower  Danube.     In  the  year  of  the 


THE   GERMANS  IN  ITALY.  53 

fall  of  the  Western  Empire  the  great  Theodoric  became 
their  king,  of  all  the  barbarian  chieftains  the 
one  who  showed  the  highesTlnngly  qualities,  ^^of^e 
He   belonged    to   the   royal    family   of    the  Ostrogoths, 
Amali,  from  which  the  Ostrogoths  had  for 
generations  chosen  their  leaders.    He  had  spent  his  whole 
youth  as  a  hostage  at  the  court  of  Constantinople,  and 
had  there  learned  the  polished  manners  of  the  Romans 
while  still  keeping  his  German  heart. 

As  soon  as  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  his  people 
he  offered  their  services  fo'the  Emperor  to  -        h 
drive  out  the  other  barbarians  from  Italy  and   service  of  the 
to    hold  the   country  for   the   Empire.     The     mpIre' 
Emperor  was  glad  enough  by  this  time  to  be  rid  of  such 
a  neighbor.     The  Ostrogoths,  moving  as  a  nation,  not 
merely  as  an  army,  passecPth~e  Alps  and  came  down  to 
meet    their    kinsmen    under    Odoacer    in    open    fight. 
Three  great  battles  were  needed  before  Odoacer  gave 
up  the  contest  and  shut  himself  within  the 

490i 

almost  impregnable  fortress  of  Ravenna,  and 
even  then  it  was  three  years  before  he  could  be  forced 
to  surrender.     Theodoric  had  not  so  far  lost  0onquer8 
his  barbarian  ways  but  that  he  could  murder  Odoacer, 
his  brave  rival  in  cold  blood  during  the  ban- 
quet which  celebrated  the  surrender. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  Italy  was  occupied  by  a  bar- 
barian ridiwrij  iiot  merely. a,  horde  o£- hungry  warriors, 
but  a  people  with  a  history  behind  them,  Theodoric 
and  with  a  fixed  political .  system.  The  king  of  Italy. 
Ostrogoths  followed  the  plan  of  Odoacer  by  occupying 
thirds  of  the  landed  estates.  Theodoric  aimed  to  make 
himself  as  much  a  Roman  as  he  could  without  giving 


54  THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY. 

up  his  hold  on  the  affections  of  his  race.  He  acknowl- 
edged a  certaiiL_allegiance  to  the  distant  and  harmless 
Emperor  at  Constantinople,  but  was  really  the  head  of 
all  the  affairs  of  Italy.  His  councillors  were  Romans, 
the  foremost  men  of  the  day.  He  was  man  enough  to 
see  that  the  Roman  law  was  much  better  to  regulate 
the  lives  of  his  Roman  subjects  than  the  Gothic  law 
which  he  had  brought  with  him,  and  so  he  left  it  un- 
disturbed excepting  where  it  interfered  with  the  control 
of  his  nation  over  the  conquered  lands  of  Italy. 

Until  now  we  have  seen  the  Germans  only  as  men 
whose  work  in  the  world  was  to  pull  down ;  now  we 
Tries  to  unite  find  a  German  race  beginning  to  show  a  de- 
the  races.  sjre  to  build  up.  It  is  amazing  to  see  how 
this  son  of  a  forest  chieftain  took  up  the  duties  of  a 
great  Christian  king.  His  laws,  of  which  we  have  a 
good  many,  are  all  aimed  at  securing  the  peace  of  Italy 
by  a  wise  regulation  of  the  two  races.  The  Goths  were 
to  govern,  but  they  were  not  to  oppress.  The  "  Udic- 
tum  Theodorici"  a  code  of  laws  prepared  by  Theodoric, 
as  he  expressly  states,  for  the  government  of  Romans 
and  Germans  alike,  contains  only  selections  from  Roman 
law.  The  Roman  Church,  with  its  proud  story  of  inde- 
pendence and  its  great  claims  to  control  all  human 
actions,  was  made  to  feel  his  strong  hand  whenever  it 
seemed  to  him  to  need  it. 

After  all  these  years  of  confusion  and  destruction, 
Order  restored  Italy  was  blessed  with  a  generation  of  order 
in  Italy.  an(j  recovery.     It  is  often  and  well  said  that 

the  great  Roman  estates,  worked  by  slave  labor,  ruined 
Rome.  The  effect  of  the  Gothic  occupation  was  to 
break  up  these  estates  into  smaller  ones,  and  thus  to 


THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY.  55 

encourage  agriculture.  The  countries  from  which  Italy 
had  imported  her  grain  were  now  almost  wholly  in  the 
hands  of  the  African  Vandals,  or  were  in  constant  dan- 
ger from  them,  so  that  Italy  had  to  provide  for  itself, 
and  we  know  that  the  farmers  of  a  land  are  always  in 
favor  of  peace  and  order. 

Another  sign  of  growing  prosperity  is  the  increase  of 
buildings.  At  Ravenna,  the  capital  of  Theo-  Learning  and 
doric,  Ave  have  to  this  day  some  splendid  art- 
specimens  of  architecture  which  date  from  his  time.  In 
fact,  this  very  people  were  to  give  their  name  to  the 
most  beautiful  form  of  architecture  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  a  form  which,  curiously  enough,  however,  did  not 
begin  to  be  used  until  centuries  after  the  Gothic  race 
had  passed  out  of  history.  Although  Theodoric  him- 
self never  learned  to  read  or  write,  he  encouraged  in 
every  way  the  study  of  letters.  The  last  rays  of  declin- 
ing learning  in  Italy  are  shed  by  the  circle  of  scholars 
at  the  Gothic  court. 

Beyond  Italy  Theodoric  extended  his  power  in  the 
western  Alpine  country  to  the  Rhone,  and  Tkeodoric's 
strengthened  himself  by  alliance  with  his  alliances. 
German  kinsmen.  His  second  wife  was  a  Frankish 
princess;  one  daughter  married  a  king  of  the  Burgun- 
dians,  another  a  king  of  the  Visigoths ;  his  sister  was 
the  wife  of  a  king  of  the  Vandals,  and  a  niece  was  given 
to  a  king  of  the  Thuringians.  All  his  plans  seem  to 
point  to  the  hope  of  a  permanent  Gothic  kingdom  of 
Italy.*.,  For  the  first  time  in  European  history  we  catch 
a  glimpse  of  what  may  properly  be  called  a  family  of 
nations,  living  in  distinct  boundaries,  and  dealing  with 
each  other  on  equal  terms. 


56  THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY. 

But  within  the  innermost  councils  of  the  Ostrogothic 
,        f      kingdom  there  crept  in  a  secret  intrigue  for 
the  Eastern      the  restoration  of  Italy  to  the  sovereignty  of 
Empire.  ^st  Rome.     The  two  most  famous  scholars 

of  the  court,  Boethius  and  Symmachus,  were  suspected, 
rightly  or  wrongly,  of  connection  with  these  plans,  and 
were  put  to  death.  Theodoric  left  behind  him  a  splen- 
did inheritance,  which,  in  wise  and  strong 
hands,  might  have  given  lasting  order  to 
Italy.  A  constant  source  of  weakness  had  been  the 
The  religious  feet  that  the  Ostrogoths,  though  Christians, 
opposition.  belonged,  like  most  of  the  Germans,  to  the 
sect  of  the  Arians,  while  the  Roman  Church  was  devot- 
edly Athanasian,  or  Orthodox-Catholic.  Theodoric  had 
been  strong  enough  to  control  this  religious  opposition, 
but  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  it  began  to  be  felt. 

Meanwhile  the  Empire  of  the  East  had  come  into 
Justinian  the  hands  of  a  really  great  man.  Justinian 
Emperor  of      revived  for  a  moment  the  name  and  fortune 

the  East,  ^-  '  -^j-.      ,  .   — —7--^ 

527-565.  of  Rome.  He  is  remembered  in  history 
chiefly  for  the  great  work  of  putting  into  compact  form, 
for  the  use  of  the  courts,  the  whole  great  body  of  Roman 
law  which  had  been  growing  during  so  many  centuries. 
But,  more  than  this,  Justinian  had  great  visions  of 
winning  back  to  the  Roman  allegiance  the  long-lost 
B ,.     .  provinces  of   Italy   and  Africa.      His   great 

recovers  general,  Belisarius,  in  one  rapid  campaign, 

Africa,  534.       0Vefran_^lie  whol^faluTfll   ^rr\tmj1"^ad  put 

an  end  to  their  kingdom  forever.  In  the  next  year  he 
Invades  crossed  over  into  Italy,  where  all  who  were 

Italy,  535.  dissatisfied  with  the  Ostrogothic  rule  wel- 
comed   him    as    their   deliverer.      For   fiYe  years   the 


THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY.  57 

Roman  general  tried  in  vain  to  drive  the  Goths  out  of 
Italy,  and  was  finally  called  home  to  defend  the  Empire 
against  an  attack  from  Persia.     The  Goths 

540. 

again  recovered  the  greater  part  of  Italy,  and 
found  the  population  already  so  tired  of  the  taxes  and 
oppression   of    Constantinople,   that   when    Belisarius, 
after  four  vears,  came  over  again,  they  stood  Second  ital- 
quite  firmly  against   him.      Alter   years    ot  544-549, 
fighting,    Belisarius   was    again   recalled,    and   a  third 
campaign  under  Narses  at  the  head  of  hired  Germanic 
troops  was  begun.     The  Goths  made  a  desperate  resist- 
ance, but  were  finally  beaten  in  one  great  Ostrogoths 
battle,  and  their  kingdom  in  Italy  was  at  an   conquered  by 
end.      Their  feeble   remnant  lost  its  name,  ' 

and  was  absorbed  into  kindred  tribes. 


§  3.  The  Lombard  Kingdom. 

The  fall  of  the  Ostrogothic  kingdom  in  Italy  left  the 
country  a  prey  to  the  greediness  of  the  East-  „ 
ern  Emperors.      The  conqueror  Narses  was  exarch  of 
made  governor  of  Italy  with  the  title  of  Ex-  Ravenna» 
arch,  and  with  his  residence  at  Ravenna.     During  Jus- 
tinian's life  things  went  smoothly  enough,  but  as  soon  as 
he  was  dead,  enemies  at  home  made  Ravenna 

565. 

so  uncomfortable  for  Narses,  that  in  a  fit  of 

rage  at  this  ungrateful  treatment  he  sent  word  up  into 

Pannonia,  where  the  German  nation  of  the   .    u    ., 

'  invites  the 

Lombards  was  then  living,  that  if  they  chose  to   Lombards 

cross  the  Alps,  he  would  not  stand  in  their  way.   m  °    a  y' 

A  word  was  enough.     The  nation  took  up  its  march, 

and  under  its  king  Alboin  overran  the  valley  of  the 


58  THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY. 

£o.  The  great  city  of  Pavia  held  out  through  a  siege 
of  three  years,  and  then  became  for  more 
than  two  centuries  the  Lombard  capital.  The 
victory  of  these  new  barbarians  was  swift  and  decisive. 
Italy  had  become  so  weakened  by  the  repeated  wars 
that  her  power  to  resist  was  pretty  well  gone.  With 
the  exception  of  the  Exarchate  of  Ravenna  on  the  Adri- 
atic, the  so-called  Duchy  of  Rome  on  the  west  coast,  and 
the  southern  ends  of  the  peninsula,  all  Italy  soon  fell 
under  Lombard  control.  The  valley "cT^TtePOj  ever 
since  called  "  Lombardy,"'  was  the  centre  oTtheir  power. 
The  rest  was  held  by  subject  "  dukes  "  of  their  own  race. 
The  Lombard  rule  was  harder  for  Italy  to  bear  than 
Hard  rale  of  that  of  any  of  her  other  conquerors.  Unlike 
the  Lombards,  the  Ostrogoths,  the  Lombards  seem  not  to 
have  respected  the  Roman  subjects,  excepting  in  the 
cities.  They  were^alyrtrel  ttndi^arbarous  people,  whose 
Arian  Christianity  had  not  done  very  much  towards 
making  them  more  orderly  or  civilized.  Their  differ- 
ence of  faith  made  them  always  dangerous  for  Rome, 
and  the  Emperors  of  the  East  could  do  little  for  her 
defence.  The  Lombard  history,  as  told  by  Paul  the 
Deacon  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  is  full  of  wild, 
Lombard  romantic  tales.  The  wife  of  Alboin,  the 
legends,  beaatiful  Rosamund,  was  the  daughter  of  a 

king  of  the  Gepidse,  whom  the  Lombards  had  defeated 
and  killed.  At  a  great  festival  the  king  offered  the 
queen  wine  in  a  cup  made  from  her  father's  skull. 
Rosamund,  in  revenge,  plotted  the  murder  of  her  hus- 
band, then  mixed  poison  for  her  guilty 
lover,  but  was  forced  by  him  to  share  the 
cup.     The  brave  king  Autharis  heard  of  the  beauty  of 


0.' 


£>  V- 


=^=4^ 

_^._.. 


, — 55 


THE    GERMANS 

IN  THE 

Empire. 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


0       50      100  200 


'*4T 


A 


U  g 


> 


SW^j^n 

^?^'^* 


10     from  Greenwich       15 


Struthers  &  Co.,  Engr's,  N.Y. 


«*•-** 


I  »      I 

•         4     C 

l»      *     ». 


THE  GERMANS  IN  ITALY.  59 

Theodolinda,  daughter  of  the  Bavarian  king,  and  went 
disguised  as  his  own  ambassador  to  sue  for  her  hand. 
The  maiden  fell  in  love  with  the  handsome  youth,  only 
to  find  that  it  was  the  king  himself.  It  was  this 
Theodolinda  who,  urged  by  the  great  Pope  Gregory  I., 
induced  the  Lombards  to  give  up  their  Arian  faith,  and 
accept  the  Catholic  doctrine  from  Rome. 

During  jthe  seventh  century  the  people  were  evi- 
dently increasing  in  numbers  and  in  all  that  Lombard  pow- 
goes  to  make  a  nation.  Their  system  of  law  ^ojJSE? 
was  put  into  a  form  suited  to  use  in  the  magne. 
courts,  and  we  must  study  it  to-day  if  we  would  know 
most  certainly  what  was  peculiar  to  them  as  a  race. 
Probably  their  numbers  were  small  as  compared  with 

f,ViA^T?ni-na.n  jnfra.hi  famt^  hut,  \\\a\v  Qnporjnr  pm'litavy  force 

enabled  them  to  keep  the  uppev  hand,  whflp  all  tVjp  time 
the^Komans  were  slowly  conquering*  them  by  means  of 
their  language,  their  law,  and  their  skill  in  all  the  arts 
of  civilized  life. 

We  may  leave  the  Lombards  here,  to  take 
them  up  again  when  we  come  to  speak  of 
their  final  conquest  by  the  Franks  under  Charlemagne. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE     FRANKS    TO    638. 

Authorities  :  —  With  the  history  of  the  Franks  we  come  to  a 
new  form  of  historical  literature  which  was  to  be  the  most  impor- 
tant during  the  whole  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  "Annals."  These 
were  records  made  from  year  to  year  i"  qpmft  monastery,  or  pos- 
sibly at  the  courts  of  rulers,  in  which  such  events  were  men- 
tioned as  seemed  to  the  writer  to  be  of  the  most  importance. 
Sometimes  no  entries  seem  to  have  been  made  for  many  years,  and 
then  the  history  of  this  period  would  be  written  all  at  once  by 
one  hand.  In  such  a  case  the  writer  might  borrow  his  material 
from  some  other  annals,  and  add  to  it  such  information  as  he 
could  get  from  his  fellow-monks  or  from  his  own  memory. 

It  was  a  matter  of  pride  for  each  monastery  to  have  its  annals 
as  complete  as  possible,  and  so  we  find  the  writers  going  back  to 
some  very  distant  point,  to  the  year  1,  for  instance,  or  to  Abraham, 
or  even  to  Adam.  In  such  cases  the  earlier  history  was  of  course 
borrowed  from  written  books,  especially  from  the  Bible,  and  the 
real  value  of  the  annals  begins  only  when  they  treat  of  events 
within  the  personal  knowledge  of  the  writer. 

One  might  suppose  that  the  knowledge  of  a  monk,  living  a 
retired  life,  apart  from  the  great  current  of  events,  would  not  be 
worth  much ;  but  in  fact  the  monk  might  be  a  person  very  much 
in  affairs.  The  monasteries  were  the  chief  seats  of  education  and 
of  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  They  were  also  the  hotels  of  the  day, 
and  hospitality  to  travellers  was  a  chief  duty  of  the  order.  Monks 
were  employed  as  the  secretaries  of  rulers  and  as  the  tutors  of 
their  sons.  In  all  these~ways  it  was  possible  for  them  to  see  a 
good  deal  of  life.  Even  without  leaving  the  walls  of  their  mon- 
astery, they  were  in  a  position  to  gather  from  the  reports  of  trav- 
ellers the  news  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  great  world. 

The  annajs,  then,  when  written  by  men  of  education  and  talent, 


THE  FRANKS   TO  638.  61 

were  oftentimes  quite  vivid  and  complete  accounts  of  events  about 
which  we  should  not  expect  the  recluse  to  have  any  knowledge 
whatever.  On  the  other  hand,  tli£3pa*e--of ten-  provokingly  full  on 
matters  for  which  we  have  no  interest,  —  the  state  of  tHe^TGAfehu^ 
the  occurrence  of  marvellous  events,"  such  as  the  birth  of  a  two- 
headed  cow,  or  the  falling  of  meteors,  or  the  miraculous  conversion 
of  heathen. 

During  the  time  of  the  MerovingiMis  the  annalistic  writing  of 
the  Middle  Ages  was  but  just  beginning.  Notice  the  events  which 
seemed  worthy  of  record. 

From  the  annals  of  Fulda :  — 

763.  Tassilo,  nephew  of  (king)  Pippin,  withdrew  from  the  army 
of  the  king  and  went  over  to  the  Bavarians. 

764.  In  this  year  the  winter  was  severe  and  longer  than  usual. 

765.  Chrodegang,  archbishop  of  Metz,  brought  the  bodies  of 
Saints  Gorgonius,  Nabor,  and  Nazarius,  given  him  by  Paul,  bishop 
of  the  Roman  See,  from  Rome  to  France. 

From  the  lesser  annals  of  Lorsch  :  — 

810.  A  very  great  mortality  of  the  cattle  in  almost  all  Europe, 
also  of  many  men,  and  Chrotruda,  daughter  of  the  Emperor,  and 
Pippin  his  son  (died). 

807.  Grimoald,  duke  of  Beneventum,  died,  and  there  was  great 
mortality  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Boniface,  so  that  many  of  the 
younger  brothers  died ;  and  Eggi  died,  and  Hutuman  and  Megin- 
rat.  The  boys  (of  the  monastery  school)  beat  their  teacher  and 
ran  away. 

At  the  same  time  the  annals  follow  the  movements  of  the  kings, 
and  become  fuller  as  events  become  of  more  importance. 
•     From  the  annals  of  Einhard :  — 

743.  Karlmann  and  Pippin,  joining  their  forces,  marched  against 
Odilo,  duke  of  Bavaria,  and  conquered  his  army  in  battle.  Upon 
their  return  Karlmann  went  alone  to  Saxony  and  received  the  sur- 
render of  the  fortress  of  Hoch-Seeburg,  together  with  the  Saxon 
Theodoric,  the  commander  of  the  place. 

Again  the  brothers,  Karlmann  and  Pippin,  joined  forces  and 
entered  Saxony,  where  they  accepted  anew  the  surrender  of  Theo- 
doric. 

745.   In  this  year  Karlmann,  as  he   had   long  intended  to  do, 


62  THE  FRANKS   TO  638. 

declared  to  his  brother  Pippin  his  desire  to  put  off:  the  habit  of 
this  world  and  to  serve  God  in  the  garb  of  a  monk.  On  this 
account  they  abandoned  the  year's  campaign,  and  Pippin  also  gave 
himself  up  to  celebrating  the  vows  of  Karlmann  and  arranging  his 
journey,  for  he  had  determined  to  go  to  Rome,  giving  his  aid  that 
his  brother  might  honorably  and  appropriately  accomplish  his 
purpose. 

The  first  real  history  written  in  the  Middle  Ages  is  Gregory  of 
Tours'  Historia  ecclesiastica  Francorum.  4  vols.  Lat.  and  Fr. 
Pub.  by  the  Societe  de  l'histoire  de  France.  Gregory  writes  of 
all  affairs  both  political  and  religious,  down  to  the  close  of  the 
sixth  century.  He  was  himself  an  active  public  man,  standing  in 
close  relations  with  the  chief  persons  in  the  politics  of  his  time. 
His  work  is  almost  our  only  source  of  information  during  the 
period  of  which  it  treats. 

Modern  Works  :  —  E.  E.  Crowe :  History  of  France.  5  vols. 
1858-68.  —  Sir  James  Stephen  :  Lectures  on  the  History  of 
France.  N.Y.  1875.  — F.  P.  G.  Guizot:  A  Popular  History  of 
France.  6  vols.  Boston.  —  G.  \V.  Kitchin :  A  History  of  France. 
3  vols.  Oxf.  1873-77.  The  best  short  history.  —Jules  Michelet : 
History  of  France.  2  vols.  N.Y.  I860.—  F.  P.  G.  Guizot:  His- 
tory of  Civilization.  4  vols.  N.Y.  1867.  —  J.  W.  Loebell :  Gregor 
von  Tours  und  seine  Zeit.     2  ed.     1869. 

We  come  now  to  the  last  and  most  important  of  the 

The  Franks     German    nations   which    settled   on    Roman 

before  Olovis,    soil.     Not  the  last  in  point  of  time,  for  their 

486.      conquest  of  Gaul  began  a  few  years  before, 

Theodoric  came  into  Italy,  and  nearly  a  century  before 

the  Lombards  set  out  for  the  Po  valley.     We  speak  of 

them  last   because  the  Frankish   people  was  in    time 

to  bring  together  under  its  rule  almost  all  the  German 

.,.         races   on   the    continent   of  Europe.      Long 

429.        after  the  Visigoths  had  found  their  home  in 

443.        the  lands  north  and  south  of  the  Pyrenees, 

the  Vandals  in  Africa,  and  the  Burgundians  in  the  val- 


THE  FRANKS   TO  638.  63 

leys  of  the  Rhone  and  Sa6ne,  we  hear  of  the  Franks  as 
a  great  nation,  living  along  the  lower  Rhine,  from  about 
where  Cologne  now  is  to  near  the  river's  mouth. 

The  Roman  government  in  Gaul  had  used  them  as 
"  allies  "  to  defend  the  Rhine  border,  and  we  They  advance 
meet  many  single  Franks  among  the  generals  graduaUy. 
and  councillors  of  the  later  Empire.  The  Franks  did 
not,  like  their  kinsmen,  the  Goths,  Vandals,  anoTLom- 
bards,  leave  their  own  country,  and  go  roaming  over 
the  world  in  search  of  new  lands.  They  held  what 
they  had,  and  kept  adding  more  to  it,  and  this  is  prob- 
ably the  chief  reason  why  they  got  the  better  of  the 
rest.  In  all  the  other  kingdoms,  the  difference  between 
the  German  and  the  Roman  population  was  the  hardest 
thing  to  manage,  but  the  rule  of  the  Franks  was  always 
in  great  part  over  people  of  pure  German  blood,  living 
on  land  which  had  been  for  centuries  Frankish  land. 

We  find  the  nation  in  two  great  divisions,  —  the 
Salians,  living  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine  ;  T]ie  Salian 
and  the  Ripuarians,  farther  up  the  river,  near  Franks. 
Cologne.  Our  chief  interest  is  in  the  Salian  Franks, 
who,  long  before  the  time  of  their  great  conquest  in 
Gaul,  had  been  spreading  out  toward  the  south  and 
west,  passing  the  rivers  Meuse,  ScheHtTand  Somme. 
We  know  little  about  these  early  movements ;  but 
when,  in  the  year.  486,  the  Salian  Franks  begin  an 
active  warfare  against  a  feeble  Roman  garrison  south 
of  the  Somme,  they  are  a  fully  developed  nation  like 
the  Goths  or  Lombards,  with  a  well-defined  legal  sys- 
tem, the  famous  "  Salic  law,"  and  with  a  strong,  well- 
recognized  royal  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Merovingian 
family.     Under  their  king,  Cloyis(Chlodoweg,  Louis), 


64  THE  FRANKS  TO  638. 

they  came  to  a  pitched  battle  with  the  Roman  general 
Battle  of  Syagrius  near  Soissons.  This  one  battle  set- 
Soissons,  tled  the  fate  of  Northern  Gaul,  and  moved 
48"*  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Franks  to  the 
river  Loire,  which  was  the  northern  frontier  of  the 
Visigothic  kingdom. 

The  next  ten  years  were  spent  in  strengthening  the 
Cloviscon-  kold  already  gained  upon  the  North.  In 
quers  the  Ale-  496  the  German  Alemanni  beyond  the  Rhine, 
mamn,  496.  ^  ^  gjack  porest  and  the  Alps,  attacked 
the  Ripuarian  Franks,  who  called  upon  the  Salians  to 
help  them.  Clovis  commanded  the  Frankish  army  in  a 
battle  somewhere  near  Strassburg,1  and  gained  a  com- 
plete victory.  The  Alemanni  lost  their  independent 
power,  and  left  nothing  but  their  name,  by  which  to 
this  day  the  inhabitants  of  Gaul  call  the  inhabitants  of 
Germany  (Allemands).  This  battle  near 
Strassburg  is  to  be  remembered,  not  so  much 
for  its  own  sake  as  on  account  of  a  great  change  which 
Conversion  of  began  then  in  the  position  of  the  Franks. 
the  Franks.  Clotilda,  the  wife  of  the  heathen  Clovis,  was 
a  Burgundian  princess  and  a  devout  Roman  Catholic 
Christian.  She  had  long  been  trying  to  persuade  Clovis 
to  join  in  her  belief ;  and  while  the  battle  of  Strassburg 
was  going  on,  Clovis  vowed  that  if  the  God  of  Clotilda 
would  give  him  the  victoiy,  he  would  do  as  she  desired. 
He  .conquered t  and  was  at  once  baptized,  he  and  three 
thousajid^of  the  chief  men  of  the  Franks. 

We  can  hardly  believe  that  such  a  rapid  conversion 
had  very  much  to  do  with  the  belief  or  the  life  of  the 
Frankish  nation.     And  yet  it  was  one  of  the  most  im- 

1  Formerly  called  the  battle  of  Ziilpich  (TolbiacumV 


THE  FRANKS   TO  638.  65 

portant  events  in  history.  You  will  remember  that  all 
the  other  Germans  we  have  met  had  been  con-  ^hy  this  was 
verted  to  the  Arian  form  of  Christianity,1  and  important. 
that  this  had  been  a  continual  source  of*  trouble  between 
them  and  their  Roman  subjects.  The  wife  of  Clovis  was  a 
Catholic  believer,  and  of  course  Clovis  and  all  his  Franks 
took  up  that  form  of  Christianity,  and  thus  became  the 
enemies  of  all  Arian  believers.  It  was  the  merest 
accident.  These  utterly  ignorant  children  of  Nature 
could  not  begin  to  comprehend  a  difference  which  has 
puzzled  the  wisest  heads  down  to  our  own  day.  We 
can  hardly  suppose  they  thought  about  the  why  and 
the  wherefore  of  their  belief  at  all.  Onlyjiaving  once 
made  up  their  minds  to  be  Catholic  Christians,  they 
would  show  their  belief  in  the  one  way  they  could 
understand,  and  that  was  by  fighting  for  it. 

Then  another  point.     By  the  time  the  Franks  had 
fought  the  battle  of  Strassburg  the  bishops  of  p 
the  city  of  Rome  had  come  to  be  looked  up  Rome  also 
to  as  the  leaders  of  the  Church  in  what  had     at  ° 1C' 
been  the  Western  Empire.     They  had  come  to  be  called 
popes,  and  were  trying  hard  to  govern  the  Church  of 
the  West  just  as  a  king  might  govern  his  people.     We 
have  seen  how  much  respect  a  venerable  pope  like  Leo 
could  command   even   from    such  rude    destroyers   as 
Attila  and  Gaiseric.     Now  the  popes  had  always  been 
devoted   Catholics,  opposed    to   Arianism    wherever   it 
appeared.     At  the  moment  of  the  Frankish  conversion 
they  were  in  constant  danger  from  the  Arian  Ostro- 
goths who  had  just  got  a  firm  hold  upon  Italy.     Theo- 
doric  had  not  disturbed  the  religion  of  Rome,  but  a  new 

1  This  theological  controversy  will  be  explained  in  Chapter  IX. 


66  THE  FEANKS   TO  638. 

king  might  arise  who  should  try  to  force  Arianism  upon 
the  whole  of  Italy.  The  pope  was  therefore 
tween  Franks  overjoyed  to  hear  that  the  newly  converted 
and  Papacy  Franks  had  taken  his  for  in  of  the  Christian 
belief.  He  was  ready  to  bless  every  under- 
taking of  theirs  as  the  work  of  God,  if  only  it  might  be 
against  the  worse  than  heathen  Arians.  Thus  began  as 
early  as  the  year  500  an  understanding  between  the 
Roman  Papacy  and  the  Frankish  kingdom  which  was  to 
ripen  into  an  intimate  alliance  and  to  do  very  much 
towards  shaping  all  the  future  history  of  Europe. 

The  first  use  which  Clovis  made  of  his  new  character 
,   .      as  the  soldier  of  the  true  church  was  to  declare 

Burgundy  be-  # 

comes  tribu-  war  against  the  Burgundian  King  Gundo- 
tary,  500.  ^^  an  ^riaii  ruler  with  many  Catholic  sub- 
jects. One  easy  victory  near  Dijon  forced  the  Burgun- 
dian to  agree  to  pay  tribute  to  the  Franks,  and  to  give 
the  same  privileges  to  his  Catholic  as  to  his  Arian  sub- 
jects. Thus  the  Franks  secured  among  the  Burgun- 
dians  a  large  party  which  thought  of  them  as 
the  defenders  of  its  interests,  and  this  led 
after  a  few  years  to  a  complete  conquest  of  the  Bur- 
gundian people. 

Meanwhile,  still  as  the  defender  of  a  pure  faith, 
Clovis  began  to  find  it  intolerable  that  the 
attacks  the  fair  lands  of  Aquitaine  should  be  in  the 
Visigoths.  hands  of  the  unbelieving  AriafT Visigoths. 
If  we  may  believe  the  excellent  bishop,  Gregory  of 
Tours,  who  wrote  of  these  events  two  generations  after 
they  happened,  all  sorts  of  miraculous  signs  pointed  to 
Clovis  as  the  divine  hero  who  was  to  set  free  a  people 
from  the  burden  of  the  heretic.     A  white  doe  of  won- 


THE  FRANKS   TO  638.  67 

drous  size  and  beauty  pointed  out  a  ford  in  the  river 

Vienne,  and  a  brilliant  meteor  from  the  steeple  of  St. 

Hilary  at  Poitiers  illumined  the  Frankish  camp.     The 

armies  met  near  Vouille,  and  Clovis  won  an  „  iXl 

1  ! Battle  at 

easy  victory.  Very  likely  the  Roman  sub-  Vouiite, 
jects  of  the  Visigoths  did  not  care  to  fight 
against  their  Catholic  enemies.  It  would  not  be  strange 
if  the  Visigoths  themselves  had  lost  much  of  their  brav- 
ery by  their  hundred  years  of  more  civilized  life.  At 
all  events,  it  will  generally  be  seen  that  the  longer  a 
German  race  had  been  living  on  the  Roman  soil,  the 
less  able  had  it  become  to  meet  the  attacks  of  fresher 
troops  from  its  own  native  forests. 

The  Franks  overran  the  country  to  the  Garonne,  and 
wintered  at  Bordeaux.     The  campaign  of  the    ,    . 

Aquitaine 

next  spring  opened  with  equal  success,  soon  occupied, 
checked,  however,  by  a  strong  force  of  Ostro-  508, 
goths  sent  over  the  Alps  by  Theodoric.      Clovis  was 
beaten  near  Aries  (Arelatum),  and  drew  back  across 
the  Loire.     In  spite  of  this  one  defeat,  all  Aquitaine 
between    Loire   and   Garonne   remained  in  his  hands. 
The  Visigoths  kept  only  a  small  territory  about  Nar- 
bonne,  north  of  the  Pyrenees.     Henceforth  their  real 
power  was  in   the    Spanish   peninsula,   until 
this,  too,  was   broken  up  by  the  Mohamme- 
dan invasion  from  the  South. 

Thus  far  Clovis  had  been  only  the  boldest  and  most 
successful  among  several  chiefs  of  the  Franks,  clovis  annexes 
His  aim  was  now  to  make  himself  the  only  Bipuaria. 
one.  He  urged  the  son  of  Siegebert,  the  Ripuarian 
king,  to  murder  his  father,  then  punished  him  for  it 
with  death,  and  himself  took  the  power  of  the  murdered 


68  THE  FRANKS   TO  638. 

men.  Three  other  so-called  "  kings "  of  the  Salic 
Removes  Franks    stood  in    his   way.      On  one   flimsy 

Us  enemies,  excuse  or  another  he  murdered  them  all,  and 
was  hailed  as  chief  of  the  Frankish  nation.  By  the 
addition  of  the  Ripuarian  territory  his  power  now 
reached  beyond  the  Rhine  as  far  as  the  sources  of  the 
Werra  and  Fulda.  "  Thus,"  says  the  pious  Gregory  of 
Tours,  "  did  God  daily  deliver  the  enemies  of  Clovis 
into  his  hand  because  he  walked  before  His  face  with 
an  upright  heart."  If  here  and  there  a  leader  among 
the  people  seemed  not  worth  murdering,  Clovis  had  his 
head  shaved,  because  none  but  members  of  his  own 
royal  house  of  the  Merovingians  might  lawfully  wear 
the  flowing  locks  which  marked  the  princely  rank.  We 
see  that  the  Christianity  of  this  man  of  God  had  not 
made  him  very  different  from  what  he  was  when  he 
first  led  his  warriors  across  the  Somme. 

So  it  was   that  when   Clovis  died,  in   511,  he  left 
f  behind  him  a  great  kingdom  in  which  there 

sons  of  was  no  one  strong  enough  to  keep  his  four 

clovls'  sons  from  dividing  it  among  themselves  as  if 

it  had  been  a  piece  of  private  property.  Each  kept  a 
part  of  the  old  Frankish  territory,  and  a  part  also  of  the 
new  conquests  of  Clovis.  They  had  their  headquarters 
at  the  four  cities  of  Metz,  Orleans,  Paris,  and  Soissons, 
but  their  territories  were  so  placed  that  neither  could 
get  from  one  part  of  his  possessions  to  another  without 
crossing  the  lands  of  his  brothers.  The  result  was  con- 
tinual quarrelling,  which  broke  out  every  now  and  then 
into  open  wars.  Whenever  one  of  these  princes  died, 
one  or  another  took  the  same  method  of  getting  his 
land  as  had  been   used  by  Clovis;    he  murdered  the 


THE  FRANKS   TO  638.  69 

brother's  sons,  or  whomever  he  thought  dangerous  to 
his  own  unjust  claims.  The  aged  queen-mother  Clotilda 
tried  in  vain  to  protect  the  rights  of  her  grandchildren. 
On  one  occasion  two  of  the  sons  of  Clovis  seized  upon 
three  of  their  nephews,  whose  father  had  just  died,  and 
sent  to  Clotilda  a  pair  of  scissors  and  a  sword,  telling 
her  to  choose  which  should  be  used  upon  the  boys. 
Clotilda  answered  that  she  would  rather  see  them  dead 
than  dishonored  by  the  loss  of  their  flowing  hair,  upon 
which  one  of  the  uncles,  Lothaire,  stabbed  two  of  the 
boys,  and  would  have  killed  the  third  if  he  had  not 
been  forcibly  prevented. 

In  the  year  530  Theodoric,  the  oldest  son  of  Clovis, 
conquered    the    Thuringians    in    battle,    and   c  f 

invited  their  king  to  meet  him  in  Ziilpich.  Thuringia, 
While  the  two  were  walking  upon  the  walls, 
suddenly  the  Thuringian  king  was  hurled  headlong  to 
his  death.  "  Nobody  knows  who  did  it,"  says  Gregory 
of  Tours,  "  but  many  believe  it  was  done  through  the 
cunning  of  Theodoric."  Thus  Thuringia  was  add^d  to 
the    Frankish   kingdom.      Four   years   later   n         L  » 

°  J  Conquest  of 

Burgufttty~was    completely    conquered,    and   Burgundy, 
became  also  Frankish  territory.     Alemannia, 
beyond  the  Rhine,  and  finally  the  remnant  of  the  Visi- 
gothic  kingdom  in  Provence,  completed  the  conquests 
of  the  sons  of  Clovis. 

A  series   of   accidents    and    crimes    made    way    for 
Lothaire  to  unite  the  whole  kingdom  once   Ltt-,  T 
more  in  his  own  hand.     A  son  who  ventured  unites  the 
to  rebel  was  seized,  and  with  his  wife  and     ng  om' 
children  burned  alive.     The  death  of  Lothaire  brought 
about  a  repetition  of  the  story  of  the  sons  of  Clovis. 


70  THE  FRANKS   TO  638. 

Lothaire,  too,  left  four  sons,  who  divided  the  kingdom, 
,,.         .  „    and  again  a   new  series   of   horrible   crimes 
and  begins.     We  will  not  follow  these,  but  will 

eustm.  notice  only  that  with  the  frequent  divisions 
of  territory  new  names  are  growing  up  which  are  to  be 
of  great  importance  in  the  future.  The  king  who 
lived  at  Metz  was  naturally  the  one  who  gained  power 
towards  the  east,  and  his  kingdom  came  thus  gradually 
to  be  called  the  East-Kingdom  (Austrasia),  while  the 
kings  at  Paris  and  Soissons  naturally  looked  towards 
the  west,  and  their  kingdoms  united  into  one  were 
called  the  West-Kingdom,  (Neustria). 

These  were  for  many  generations  the  chief  divisions 
-  of  the  Franks.     The  population  of  Austrasia 

Inheritance  of  __± r  .. 

the  kingdoms  was  almost  wholly  Germanic,  that  of  Neus- 
makestrouble.  tria  yery  largely  Romanic.      Besides  these, 

Burgundy  was  now  a  regular  division  of  the  kingdom. 
The  rest  of  the  newly  conquered  lands  were  divided 
among  these  three  chief  kingdoms.  The  old  Ger- 
manic principle  of  electing  the  best  man  of  a  certain 
family  to  be  leader  of  the  nation  had,  you  see,  entirely 
given  way  to  the  other  principle,  by  which  the  king's 
sons,  no  matter  how  many  or  how  miserable  they  might 
be,  divided  their  father's  kingdom  as  if  it  had  been  a 
piece  of  property.  If  then  the  king  died  without  chil- 
dren, his  brothers  would  scramble  for  his  land,  and 
thus  there  was  a  constant  temptation  to  hurry  brothers 
and  nephews  out  of  the  world  as  fast  as  possible. 
There  is  hardly  a  more  awful  bit  of  human  history  than 
the  story  of  these  wars  among  the  sons  of  Lothaire  as 
told  by  Gregory  of  Tours.  Yet  we  must  remember 
that  all  this  restless  ambition  for  land  and  power  shows 


THE  FRANKS   TO  638.  71 

a  strong  race,  a  people  busied  with  the  making  of  a 
nation,  full  of  a  desperate  energy  which  was  not  very- 
nice  about  its  means,  but  out  of  which  something  great 
must  come. 

Lothaire  died  in  561.     In  the  half-century  of  violent 
warfare    which    followed,    the    chief   figures 
are    those   of    two    terrible   women,    Frede- 
gonda,    queen    of    Neustria,    and    Brunhilda,    queen 
of   Austrasia.      Their   death-struggle  ended    >•■-..„ 

r>       ii       i  i  •        i  Lothaire  II. 

in  the    union    ot    all   three    kingdoms  once  again  unites 
more  under  Lothaire  II.,  son  of  Fredegonda.   the  kingdom, 
Lothaire's  son  Dagobert  was  made  his  asso- 
ciate as  king  of  Austrasia,  and  became  sole  ruler  of  the 
Franks  in  628.     The  ten  years  of  Dagobert's 
reign  may  be  remembered  as  the  highest  point  628-638. 
of  the   Merovingian   power.      He  was  able 
to  keep  a  firm  hold  upon  the  Austrasian  nobles  who 
were  inclined  to  make  trouble  for  him.     His  alliance 
was  sought  by  the  Eastern  Emperor  and  by  the  Lom- 
bards of  Italy.     But  the  Franks  were  not  yet  ready  to 
obey  a  king  who  should  try  to  be  a  king  in  the  later 
meaning  of  that  word ;  that  is,  who  should  not  respect 
the  independent  rights  of   his  noble  subjects.     When 
Dagobert  oppressed  them  with  taxes  and  tried  to  get 
lands  which  they  thought  belonged  to  themselves,  the 
leading   men,  whom   we  may  now  call  the 
nobles,  rebelled  and  forced  him  to  do  as  they 
wished.     And  when  Dagobert  was  gone,  the  real  power 
of  the  Merovingian  kings  was  gone  too. 

A  new  power  was  rising  into  prominence.  Chief 
among  the  Frankish  nobles  were  those  who  held  an 
office  near  the  person  of  the  kings,  something  like  that 


72  THE  FRANKS   TO  638. 

of  a  prime  minister,  very  much  the  sort  of  person  that 
Ris  ofth  Prince  Bismark  has  so  long  been  in  the  state 
"Major  of  Prussia.    This  officer  was  called  the  Major 

Domus,  the  Master  of  the  Palace,  and  was 
the  most  important" person  at "jTa ch  of  the  Frankish 
courts.  It  was  easy  for  such  a  minister,  if  he  was  also 
a  man  of  character  and  a  good  general,  to  get  a  great 
deal  of  power  in  his  own  hands ;  and  if  lie  had  a  son,  he 
of  course  tried,  very  often  successful^,  to  have  this  son 

appointed  his  successor.     During  a  hundred 

638-752i  ■ ~ — """ 

years  from  the  death  of  Dagobert,  the  kings 
were  losing  and  the  Masters  of  the  Palace  were  gaining 
power.  The  office  of  Major  Domus  in  Austrasia  became 
hereditary  in~  a  noble  family  which  is  known  as  the 
u  Carolingian,"  from  the  name  of  the  greatest  member, 
Charles  the  Great,  afterwards  king  of  the  Franks. 

The  story  of  this  change  ot  authority  from  the  Mero- 
„     .      .      vingians   to  the  Carolingian   house   belongs 

Meaning  of  °  &  & 

theMerovin-  more  properly  with  the  history  of  the  next 
gian  period.      periocL     We  must  think  0f  tlie  Merovingian 

time  as  that  in  which  the  Frankish  race,  after  their 
sudden  change  from  a  wild  life  to  a  settled  life,  from  a 
government  by  many  independent  leaders  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  one  royal  power,  from  being  a  single  people 
living  for  themselves  to  be  rulers  over  many  conquered 
nations,  and  finally  from  heathenism  to  Christianity, 
were  slowly  and  painfully  getting  used  to  all  these 
changes.  How  well  they  learned  this  great  lesson  we 
shall  see  better  when  we  come  to  study  them  in  their 
later  history. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

GERMANIC    IDEAS    OF    LAW. 

Authorities:  —  The  "Leges  Barbarorum,"  laws  of  the  several 
German  nations  complete  in  F.  Walter :  Corpus  juris  germanici 
antiqui.  3  vols.  Berlin,  1824.  Incomplete  in  Pertz :  Monumenta 
Germ.  hist.  Leges  III.  IV.  Also  Legal  Formulae,  in  E.  de 
Roziere:  Recueil  general  des  formules  usitees  dans  Pempire 
des  Francs.  3  pts.  Paris,  1859-71.  Also  in  Mon.  Germ.  hist. 
Leges,  Sec.  V.  I.  2.  —  The  legal  ideas  expressed  in  these  monu- 
ments of  the  existing  traditions  were  modified  by  special  edicts 
of  the  Frankish  kings,  known  as  "  Capitularies,"  found  in  Mon. 
Germ.  hist.  Leges  I.  II.  Ed.  Pertz  in  Leges,  Sec.  II.  1.  Ed. 
A.  Boretius.  Selections  from  all  these  in  Gengler,  Germanische 
Rechtsdenkmaler. 

Modern  Works  :  —  O.  Stobbe  :  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  Rechts- 
quellen.  2  vols.  1860-04.  —  H.  Zoepfl:  Deutsche  Rechtsge- 
schichte.  3  vols.  1871-72.  —  Bethmann-Hollweg,  Der  Civil- 
process  des  gemeinen  Rechts  IV.-V 1. 1 .  Der  germanisch-romische 
Civil-process  im  Mittelalter. 

It  is  clear  that  when  two  peoples  like  the  Germans 
and  Romans  came  into  contact  through  conquest  and 
were  forced  to  live  side  by  side  on  the  same  soil,  their 
differences  in  customs  and  traditions  would  come  out 
very  strongly  and  would  often  give  rise  to  serious 
troubles. 

In  no  respect  were  these  differences   more    marked 
than  in  the  views  of   law  held  by  the  two  The  Germans 
races.     We  have  been  speaking  of  the  Ger-  had  a  legal 
mans  as  barbarians,  and  the  word  may  have  sys  em' 
seemed  to  suggest  people  living  without  any  well-de- 


74  GERMANIC  IDEAS   OF  LAW. 

fined  system  of  laws.  But  the  Germans  were  not  bar- 
barians in  that  sense.  On  the  contrary7"lhey  had  a  very 
well-marked  legal  system,  and  what  is  more,  they  by 
no  meanTHropped  it  as  they  had  dropped  their  ancient 
religion,  but  they  retained  it  as  the  basis  of  the  new 
arrangements  with  tKe^conquered  komansT  Further- 
more, the  Germanic  legal  notions  continued  for  centu- 
ries to  give  character  to  the  whole  social  order  of 
Europe,  and  for  that  reason  they  are  important  for  our 
study. 

If  we  compare  these  ideas  of  law  with  those  of  the 
C  m  arison  Romans  or  with  our  own,  the  first  great  dif- 
with  modem  ference  which  strikes  us  is  the  larger  room 
principles.  given-ftrthe  ac~£Toh  of  Tfre  Tndivla^al  With 
the  Roman,  as  with  ourselves,  the  state  seemed  to  be 
the  source  of  law.  Men  looked  to  the  state  to  take 
care  of  their  legal  rights,  and  were  willing  to  give  up  to 
the  state  any  right  they  might  once  have  had  to  revenge 
their  own  wrongs.  We  may  understand  this  by  an 
example.  If  your  pocket-book  is  stolen,  you  notify  the 
state,  that  is,  the  police,  and  think  no  more  about  the 
matter.  You  neither  could,  nor  would  you  wish  to, 
spend  your  time  in  hunting  out  the  thief.  You  expect 
the  state  to  do  that  for  you,  and  if  it  finds  him,  you 
expect  it  to  return  your  money  and  to  punish  the  crimi- 
nal, not  so  much  for  the  wrong  he  has  done  you,  but  as 
a  warning  to  others,  and  so  as  a  protection  to  the  good 
order  of  your  community. 

Or  again,  if  a  man  tries  to  murder  you,  you  do  not 
wish  to  hunt  him  down  and  try  to  murder  him.  You 
look  to  the  state  to  arrest  him  and  to  see  to  it  that  he 
makes  no  such  attempts  for  the  future.     Or  once  more, 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW.  75 

if  you  have  a  difference  with  a  man  about  the  right  to 
a  piece  of  land,  you  do  not  feel  yourself  personally  at- 
tacked and  want  to  fight  it  out  with  your  rival.  You 
go  together  to  the  state,  that  is  to  the  court,  and  ask  it 
to  decide  between  you  according  to  the  customary  or 
written  law  of  your  land. 

Still  you  read  in  the  papers,  even  in  these  days,  on 
rare  occasions,  especially  in  partly  settled  countries,  of 
men  taking  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  for 
fear  lest  the  state  should  not  do  its  duty  in 
seeking  out  and  punishing  crime.  There  are  parts  of 
our  own  country  to-day  where  this  sense  of  the  duty  of 
submission  to  the  state  is  still  so  weak,  that  if  one  man 
injures  another,  the  injured  man  is  actually  forced  by 
public  opinion  to  revenge  his  own  wrong;  then  the 
family  of  the  first  wrong-doer  tries  to  injure  some  one 
of  the  family  of  the  second,  these  return  the  attack,  and 
so  a  feud  arises  between  the  families,  which  often  runs 
for  generations  before  the  state  can  put  an  end  to  it.1 

Now  this  state  of  things  which  seems  so  very  dread- 
ful to  us,  was  the  natural  condition  of  the  ancient  Ger- 
mans. The  difference  was,  that  whereas  "Personality 
among  us  it  means  the  neglect  or  vioiafion  oflaw,M 
of  law,  it  was  with  the  Germans  the  basis  of  all  law. 
The  German  thought  of  his  legal  rights  as  belonging  to 
him,  not  because  he  was  a  member  of  the  state,  but 
because  he  was  rnmself.,  the  son  of  his  fathers,  and  the 
heir  of  all  that  had  seemed  right  to  them.  His  law  was 
a  part  of  himself.  He  could  no  more  change  it  or  part 
with  it  than  ne  could  change  or  part  with  his  own 
existence.     If   he  went  into    the    territory   of   another 

1  E.g.  the  Rowan  County  feuds  in  Kentucky. 


76  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

people,  he  carried  his  law  with  him  and  looked  to  have 
it  respected.  This  notion  of  law  is  what  is  called  by 
scholars  the  idea  of  the  "  personality  of  law,"  as  distin- 
guished from  the  "  territoriality  of  law." 

Let  us  look  now  at  some  of  the  curious  consequences 
.  m        of  the  personal  principle  in  legal  ideas.    When 

quencesin  a  nation  having  this  conception  of  law  con- 
conqnes  quered  another  nation,  it  became  a  question 

how  it  would  regard  the  laws  of  the  conquered  race. 
When  the  Romans  made  a  conquest,  they  allowed  the 
religious  and  social  institutions  of  the  country  to  remain 
as  they  were,  but  they  made  the  inhabitants,  in  so  f&r 
as  they  thought  them  worthy  of  it,  subject  to  the  Roman 
law.  When  the  Empire  was  divided  into  East  and  West, 
there  was  no  division  of  laws.  The  final  publication 
of  the  whole  body  of  legal  institutions  was  made  by 
an  emperor  who  never  set  foot  on  any  really  Roman 
ground. 

But  when  the  Germans  conquered,  they  applied  to 
G  ntr  at-  ^e  conquered  people  the  same  rule  of  per- 
mentof  sonaTity   which    every    German   claimed   for 

hUnself.  The  conquered  people  had  to  sub- 
mit to  the  military  and  political  control  of  the  conqueror, 
but  he  was  bound  to  judge  them  by  their  own  law.  If, 
for  example,  Franks  conquered  Visigoths,  they  might 
force  the  Visigoth  to  serve  in  the  Frankish  army  and 
they  might  tax  him  for  the  expense  of  government;  but 
if  he  came  into  their  court,  he  had  a  right  to  be  tried 
by  the  law  of  his  fathers.  Now  it  is  evident  that  the 
greatest  possible  contrast  was  brought  out  when  the 
barbarian  Germans  conquered  the  civilized  Romans. 
They   found  in   the   subject  land  a  magnificent   legal 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW.  p  77 

system,    written   down   in   ponderous   volumes.     They 
found  a  class  of  learned  men  whose  business  in  life  it 
was  to  explain  this  law  and  to  apply  it  in  the  courts. 
In  the  new  life  of  cities  into  which  they  were  now  led, 
there  were  many  necessities  of  business  and  social  life 
for  which   their   own    law  had  no  provision.     So  that 
there  was  more  occasion  than  ever  for  them  to  carry 
out  the  old  Germanic  principle  of  toleration.     In  fact, 
we  have   reason  to  believe  that  they  took  very  great 
pains  to  become  acquainted  with  tlie^a^o|_gome7^oT^ 
we    have    some    little    books    of    selections   "Leges 
from  that  law  evidently  prepared  for  the  use  Romanae," 
of  German  judges. 

Their  own  law  was  unwritten.  They  had  been  living 
sucli~simple  lives  m  the~foresT~and  the  plain  Necessity  for 
that  they  had  never  needed  any  but  the  written  law. 
simplest  forms  of  law,  and  these  they  had  been  able  to 
hand  down  by  word  of  mouth  from  one  generation  to 
another.  Now,  however,  when  they  were  brought  into 
contact  with  the  law  of  Rome,  we  may  well  believe  that 
it  seemed  likely  to  overshadow  and  drive  out  their  own 
simple  forms  unless  they  secured  these  by  putting  them 
also  into  writing.  So  it  happened  that  within  about 
two  or  three  generations  from  the  time  of  settling  on 
Roman  soil  the  law  of  each  one  of  the  Germanic  nations 
was  written  down  by  some  Roman  scholar  and  in  the 
Latin  language.  These  laws  have  come  down  to  us, 
and  are  a  most  precious  possession.  They  tell  us  better 
than  any  histories  just  what  our  ancient  relatives  were 
thinking  on  all  the  most  important  subjects  of  their 
daily  life  together.  They  give  us  the  key,  which  would 
otherwise  have  been  lost,  to  the  most  peculiar  and 
individual  traits  of  the  Germanic  mind. 


78  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

The  most  important  of  the  German  laws  are  the  Lex 
The "  Leges  Salica,  the  law  of  the  Salian  Franks,  the  Lex 
Barbarorum."  Bipuariorum,  Lex  Wisigothorum,  Lex  Bur- 
gundionum,  Lex  Saxonum  and  Lex  Frisionum,  and  the 
Edicts  of  the  Lombard  kings.  Taken  together  they 
are  often  called  the  "  Leg££_Barbarorum"  in  distinction 
from  the  "Lex  Bomana"  and  also  from  those  collec- 
tions of  Roman  Taws  for  the  use  of  the  German  courts 
to  which  we  have  already  referred  and  which  were 
called  the  "  Leges  Bomanae." 

The  Leges  Barbarorum  differ  very  much  from  each 
other  in  extent  and  in  content.  In  an  edition 
in  which  the  Lex  Salica  occupies  fifty  printed 
pages,  the  Lex  Frisionum  occupies  twenty-five,  the  Lex 
Saxonum  ten,  while  the  Edicts  of  the  Lombard  kings 
occupy  one  hundred  and  sixty,  and  the  Lex  Wisigothorum 
two  hundred  and  fifty.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that 
those  nations  which  lived  farthest  from  the  Roman 
influence  were  least  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
giving  to  their  law  a  complete  and  systematic  codifica- 
tion. 

A  similar  distinction  is  seen  in  the  degree  to  which 
How  'nflu-  this  folk-law  was  affected  by  the  Roman.  The 
encedby  Edicts  of  the  Lombard  kings,  especially  in  the 
earlier  period  of  the  conquest,  make  hardly 
any  mention  of  Romans  or  their  law,  while  the  Edictum 
Theodorici,  prepared  by  Theodoric,  king  of  the  Ostro- 
goths, contains  only  principles  borrowed  from  the 
Roman  law.  In  other  cases,  as  with  the  Burgundians 
and  Visigoths,  the  laws  relating  to  one  people  are  care- 
fully distinguished  from  those  relating  to  the  other.  In 
the  far  northern  laws  of  the  Frisians  and  Saxons,  little 
if  any  trace  of  Roman  influence  can  be  seen. 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW.  79 

But  in  spite  of  these  differences  in  form  and  in  extent, 
the  laws,  in  so  far  as  they  are  German,  have  certain  very- 
striking  common  peculiarities.  We  have  seen  how  the 
personality  of  the  law  resulted  in  the  respect  of  the 
conquerors  for  the  conquered,  and  in  the  great  sense  of 
the  right  of  the  individual  as  against  the  com-  „ 

o  o  G-erman  ideas 

m unity  or  the  state.  We  have  now  to  notice  of  legal 
a  third  consequence  of  this  same  personal  evidence' 
idea  of  law  in  the  Germanic  conceptions  of  the  pro- 
cess by  which  legal  proof  was  to  be  got  at.  Nothing 
seems  clearer  to  us  than  that,  if  a  person  is  accused  of 
wronging  another,  the  charge  must  be  proved  by  the 
evidence  of  persons  who  know  something  about  the 
facts.  A  person  accused  of  theft,  for  instance,  may 
bring  in  as  many  witnesses  as  he  pleases  to  testify  to 
his  good  character;  but  if  the  prosecution  can  show 
by  the  evidence  of  one  uncontradicted  witness,  whose 
honesty  is  not  questioned,  that  the  defendant  certainly 
did  commit  the  theft,  no  matter  how  stoutly  he  may 
deny  it,  and  no  matter  how  good  his  previous  character 
may  have  been,  convicted  he  will  be. 

The  Germanic  idea  of  legal  process  was  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  this.  So  strong  was  the  sense  of  »  compur- 
individual  right,  that  the  persoTTaccused  was  gation." 
regarded  as  attacked  in  his  honor  and  bound  to  rein- 
state himself.  The  accuser  was  not  called  upon  to 
prove  the  crime  by  what  we  should  call  evidence,  but 
the  accused  must  clear  himself  of  the  charge.  This 
seems  at  first  sight  to  put  the  accused  at  a  great  disad- 
vantage. It  seems  to  violate  what  we  consider  the 
very  first  principle  of  criminal  law,  that  a  man  is  to  be 
considered  innocent  until  he  is  proved  guilty.     And  if 


80  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

the  Germanic  ideas  of  proof  had  been  the  same  as  ours, 
it  would  have  been  so.  But  the  accused  person  had 
with  them  the  great  advantage  of  not  being  obliged  to 
get  evidence  that  he  had  not  committed  the  act;  lie 
had  only  to  declare  himself  innocent  by  an  oath  and  get 
a  certain  number  of  other  persons  to  swear,  not  that 
they  knew  him  to  be  innocent  of  this  particular  act,  but 
that  they  believed  him  to  be  telling  the  truth.  They 
need  have  no  knowledge  whatever  as  to  the  facts  in  the 
given  case.  This  is  the  famous  institution  of  the  "  com- 
purgators^ The  number  of  the  compurgators'  was 
generally  from  seven  to  eleven,  but  the  number  varied 
according  to  some  curious  principles,  which  we  must 
now  examine. 

Proof  at  law  rested  in  the  first  place  upon  the  value 
Value  of  the  oFTnT~given  word,  confirmed  by  an  oath, 
given  word.  But  the  value  of  a  man's  word  at  law  de- 
pended partly  upon  his  value  in  the  community,  and 
partly  upon  the  value  of  the  man  to  whom  he  was  op- 
posed. For  instance,  in  the  Frisian  law,  if  a  noble  was 
accused  of  the  murder  of  another  noble,  he  needed 
eleven  compurgators  of  his  own  rank  to  free  him:  if 
accused  of  murdering  a  freeman,  he  needed  but  seven 
compurgators ;  and  if  the  alleged  victim  was  a  serf,  he 
needed  only  three.  In  the  same  way,  if  a  freeman  was 
charged  with  the  murder  of  a  noble,  he  needed  seven- 
teen compurgators  of  his  own  rank ;  if  charged  with  the 
murder  of  another  freeman,  eleven  ;  and  if  said  to  have 
murdered  a  serf,  only  five.  Again,  a  serf,  to  free  him- 
self from  the  charge  of  murder  in  the  case  of  a  noble- 
man, needed  thirty-five  compurgators ;  in  the  case  of  a 
freeman,  twenty-three ;  and  in  the  case  of  another  serf, 
twelve. 


GERMANIC  IDEAS   OF  LAW.  81 

The  whole  Germanic  idea  of  proof  rested  upon  the 
theory  that  a  man  would  rather  confess  him-  The 
self  in  the  wrong  than  incur  the  divine  ven-  "Ordeal." 
geance  for  broken  faith.  This  same  theory  of  the 
divine  agency  in  discovering  truth  in  human  affairs 
is  seen  in  two  other  forms  of  legal  evidence,  which 
seem  to  us,  if  possible,  still  more  singular,  in  the  ordeal 
and  in  the  wager  of  battle.  These  forms  of  proof  were 
called  for  when  the  proof  by  oath  was  not  satisfactory, 
or  for  any  reason  could  not  be  used.  The  most  common 
forms  of  the  ordeal  were  those  by  lot,  by  plunging  the 
arm  into  hot  water  or  into  fire,  carrying  hot  iron,  stand- 
ing with  outstretched  arms  until  one  of  the  parties 
to  the  case  falls  exhausted,  or  eating  of  the  conse- 
crated host,  in  the  expectation  that  God  would,  by 
some  special  act  of  vengeance,  punish  the  wretch  who 
should  dare  perform  this  sacred  rite  with  a  lie  upon  his 
lips. 

The  cases  recorded,  in  which  the  person  appealing  to 
one  of  these  ordeals  and  actually  escaping  the  natural 
consequences  of  the  act,  —  for  instance,  of  actually 
plunging  the  hand  into  boiling  water  without  injury, 
—  are  very  rare,  and  may  as  easily  be  explained  as  any 
other  miraculous  occurrences ;  but  it  is  probable  that 
the  dread  of  bringing  down  the  anger  of  God  was  often 
sufficient  to  deter  the  culprit  from  making  any  attempt 
to  clear  himself,  and,  of  course,  to  decline  the  challenge 
was  to  confess  guilt.1     The  same  may  be  said  of  the 

1  The  following  is  a  curious  case  of  the  use  of  the  lot  as  a  means  of 
determining  the  divine  judgment :  — 

Lex  Fris.  tit.  xiv.     De  homine  in  turba  occiso. 

If  any  man  be  slain  in  a  sedition  or  riot,  and  the  homicide  cannot 


82  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

wager  of  battle.  In  an  age  when  men  were  chiefly 
occupied  in  warfare  it  was  natural  that  this  should 
have  been  a  favorite  method  of  deciding  any  differ- 
ence of  opinion,  and  that  what  had,  perhaps,  once  been 
merely  a  fight  to  win  a  point  by  brute  force  should 
come  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  actual  expression  of  the 
divine  will. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ideasunderlying 
The  "wager  these  peculiar  legal  forms  have  their  roots 
ofbattle."  far  "back  in  the  heathen  times,  and  were 
then   carried   over   into  later  conditions,  and  given  a 

be  discovered  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  those  present,  he  who 
seeks  the   composition  may  charge  seven  men  with  the 
e  or  ea  murder,  and  each  of  these  must  purify  himself  from  the 

charge  by  an  oath  with  eleven  compurgators  ("  sua  duo- 
decima  manu").  Then  they  are  to  be  led  to  the  church,  and  lots  are 
to  be  placed  on  the  altar,  or,  if  it  does  not  happen  to  be  near  a  church, 
on  the  relics  of  saints.  And  the  lots  are  to  be  as  follows :  two  sticks, 
cut  from  a  rod,  which  they  call  "  tenos,"  are  placed  on  the  altar,  one  of 
them  marked  with  a  cross,  the  other  without  a  mark,  and  both  wrapped 
in  clean  wool.  A  priest,  if  one  be  present,  or  if  not,  an  innocent  boy, 
takes  one  of  the  sticks  from  the  altar,  and  meanwhile  God  is  called 
upon  to  show  by  some  evident  sign  whether  those  seven  who  swore 
about  the  murder  swore  truly.  If  the  stick  with  the  cross  on  it  is 
taken,  they  are  innocent ;  but  if  the  other  be  taken,  then  each  one  of 
the  seven  must  make  his  own  lot,  i.e.  a  "  tenum  "  of  rod,  and  mark  it 
with  his  own  sign,  so  that  he  and  the  rest  may  recognize  it,  and  then 
wrap  it  in  clean  wool  and  lay  it  on  the  altar  or  the  relics.  Then  a 
priest,  or  as  before,  an  innocent  boy,  shall  take  up  each  one  of  the  lots 
by  itself  and  ask  to  whom  it  belongs.  He  whose  lot  happens  to  be  the 
last  shall  pay  the  composition,  the  rest  whose  lots  were  taken  up  first 
are  free. 

If,  however,  he  (the  priest  or  the  boy)  shall  at  the  first  drawing 
have  drawn  the  lot  marked  with  the  cross,  the  seven,  as  has  been  said, 
are  innocent ;  but  he,  if  he  chooses,  may  charge  others  with  the  mur- 
der, and  whoever  is  charged  must  clear  himself  by  an  oath  with  eleven 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW.  83 

Christian  or  semi-Christian  tinge.  It  may  seem  in- 
credible to  us  that  there  should  be  any  real  connection 
between  the  strength  of  a  man's  right  arm  and  the 
justice  of  his  cause,  but  we  have  to  remember,  that  to 
the  German,  it  was  not  the  man's  own  strength,  but  the 
power  of  God  working  through  him,  which  was  the  real 
expression  of  justice/  Perhaps  the  most  striking  and 
singular  case  of  this  profound  conviction  of  the  justice 
of  the  wager  of  battle  is  seen  in  a  story  told  by  the 
Saxon  chronicler,  Widukind,  writing  in  the  tenth  cen- 
tury :  — 

"  Then  a  contest  arose  over  a  difference  in  the  law,  some  main- 
taining that  grandchildren  whose  fathers  were  dead,  were  not  en- 
titled to  receive  an  equal  share  of  the  grandfather's  property  with 
the  uncles.  Then  the  king  (Otto  I.)  called  a  general  assembly  of 
the  people  at  the  palace  of  Stela,  and  it  was  decided  to  leave  the 


compurgators  ("  sua  duodecima  manu ''),  and  this  shall  be  sufficient  for 
the  accuser ;  nor  can  he  compel  any  one  further  to  the  lot. 

The  following  is  a  formula  for  the  use  of  those  who  are  to  conduct 
the  ordeal  of  the  red-hot  iron  :  — 

After  the  charge  has  been  legally  made  and  three  days  have  been 
spent  in  fasting  and  prayer,  the  priest,  clothed  in  the 
sacred  vestments,  excepting  the  chasuble,  shall  take  with    The  ordeal  by 
tongs  a  piece  of  iron  which  has  been  placed  before  the    hot  iron, 
altar,  and,  chanting  the  hymn  of  the  three  youths,  "  Bene- 
dicite  opera  omnia,"  shall  carry  it  to  the  fire  and  shall  say  this  prayer 
above  the  place,  that  the  fire  may  be  for  the  fulfilment  of  justice  :  — 

"  Bless,  0  Lord  God,  this  place,  that  we  here  may  have  holiness, 
purity,  bravery,  and  victory,  virtue,  humility,  goodness,  leniency,  and 
fulness  of  law,  and  obedience  to  God  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the 
Holy  Spirit." 

After  this  the  iron  shall  be  placed  in  the  fire  and  holy  water 
sprinkled  upon  it,  and  while  it  is  heating  let  the  mass  be  celebrated. 
Then  when  the  priest  has  taken  the  eucharist,  let  him  call  upon  the 
man  who  is  to  be  tried  and  cause  him  to  communicate.     Then  the 


84  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

question  to  the  judgment  of  referees.  But  the  king,  following 
better  counsel  and  being  unwilling  that  men  of  rank  and  elders  of 
the  people  should  be  so  dishonorably  treated,  commanded  that  the 
case  should  be  settled  by  wager  of  battle.  In  this  test  the  party 
which  favored  the  equality  of  the  grandchildren  with  the  uncles 
won  the  battle,  and  it  was  declared  law  forever  that  the  grandchil- 
dren should  divide  the  inheritance  with  the  uncles  on  equal  terms." — 
Widukind,  Saxon  Chronicle,  938. 

The  question  here,  it  will  be  seen,  was  a  purely  legal 
one,  and  yet  the  settlement  of  it  in  what  we  should  call 
a  legal  way,  by  the  judgment  of  competent  men,  seemed 
to  the  king  dishonorable.  Nothing  less  than  the  clear 
judgment  of  God,  as  shown  in  the  issue  of  a  combat  at 
arms,  seemed  a  complete  settlement  of  so  large  a  ques- 
tion. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  there  is  some  connection 
unknown  to  us  between  the  ancient  idea  of  the  right  of 
every  individual  German  to  seek  remedy  for  his  own 
wrongs  and  the  notion  that  if  right  was  sought  in  that 

priest  shall  sprinkle  holy  water  upon  the  iron  and  say :  "  May  the 
blessing  of  God  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
descend  upon  this  iron,  that  it  may  rightly  declare  the  judgment  of 
God."  Then  the  accused  shall  carry  the  iron  a  space  of  nine  feet. 
His  hand  shall  be  bound  up  for  three  days  under  seal,  and  if  any  foul 
matter  shall  be  found  in  the  mark  of  the  iron,  he  shall  be  declared 
guilty,  but  if  it  comes  out  clean,  praise  be  to  God. 

The  following  is  the  process  of  judgment  with  the  Psalter,  used  in 
a  trial  for  theft :  — 

Let  one  piece  of  wood  be  prepared,  with  a  head  to  it,  and  laid  in  the 
Psalter. at  the  verse,  "Thou  art  just,  O  Lord,  and  thy 
The  ordeal  by  judgment  is  right."  Then  let  the  Psalter  be  closed  and 
the  Psalter.  strongly  tied,  with  the  head  of  the  stick  projecting  from 
it.  Then  let  another  piece  of  wood  be  made  with  a  hole 
in  it,  in  which  the  head  of  the  first  piece  is  to  be  placed  so  that  the 
Psalter  will  hang  and  turn  freely  in  it.     Then  let  two  persons  hold  the 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW  85 

way,  the  divine  power  would  never  let  the  wrong  man 
win.  Certainly  in  the  time  we  are  studying  the  step 
from  one  idea  to  the  other  had  been  taken.  . 

And  yet  it  seems  pretty  clear  that  there  were  from 
very  early  times  men  who  believed  that  these  influence  of  the 
methods  of  getting  at  truth  were  not  the  best,  Church. 
and  who  did  what  they  could  to  persuade  the  people  to 
give  up  the  right  of  appeal  to  arms,  and  have  their  dis- 
putes settled  according  to  recognized  principles  of  law, 
by  the  regular  officers  of  justice.  Especially  the  Church 
was  generally  to  be  found  on  the  side  of  order  and 
decency,  as  against  the  rude  and  violent  methods  of  a 
barbarous  people.  As  time  goes  on,  we  see  evident 
traces  of  clerical  and  royal  interference  with  these  pre- 
cious privileges,  and  a  gradual  approach  toward  such 
methods  of  justice  as  were  to  be  learned  from  the  law 
of  the  Romans. 

Here  is  a  curious  illustration  of  just  this  process, 
taken  from  the  history  of  Gregory  of  Tours,  and  show- 
stick  with  the  Psalter  hanging  between  them,  and  let  the  suspected 
person  stand  before  them.  One  of  those  who  hold  the  Psalter  shall  say 
to  the  other  three  times,  "  He  has  this  thing  " ;  and  the  other  shall  three 
times  answer,  "  He  has  it  not."  Then  the  priest  shall  say,  "  May  He 
deign  to  make  this  clear  to  us,  by  whose  judgment  all  things  in  heaven 
and  earth  are  governed.  Thou  art  just,  0  Lord,  and  thy  judgment  is 
right.  Turn  away  the  iniquity  of  my  enemies,  and  in  thy  truth  scat- 
ter them." 

Prayer :  Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  who  hast  created  all  things 
out  of  nothing,  and  who  hast  made  man  from  the  dust  of  the  earth,  we 
beseech  thee  by  the  intercession  of  Mary  the  most  blessed  mother  of 
God,  that  thou  wilt  make  trial  concerning  this  thing  of  which  we  are 
uncertain,  so  that,  if  this  man  be  guiltless,  this  book  which  we  hold  in 
our  hands  may  turn  with  the  course  of  the  sun ;  but,  if  he  be  guilty, 
that  it  may  turn  in  the  opposite  direction. 


86  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

ing  how  things  were  going  in  the  Frankish  kingdom 
Illustration  a^out  the  year  600.  A  certain  Sicharius  got 
from  sixth  into  a  quarrel  with  a  neighboring  freeman 
during  a  somewhat  riotous  celebration  of 
Christmas,  and  in  the  course  of  the  affair  lost  several  of 
his  servingmen  and  a  quantity  of  personal  property. 
He  chose  to  bring  a  complaint  before  the  court  at  Tours, 
and  easily  got  his  verdict  for  damages ;  but  unfortu- 
nately the  law  allowed  an  interval  of  forty  days  before 
the  money  must  be  paid,  and  meanwhile  the  strain  upon 
the  patience  of  poor  law-abiding  Sicharius  was  too  much 
for  him.  Likely  enough  that  his  more  restless  neigh- 
bors may  have  openly  ridiculed  him  for  choosing  the 
tame  process  of  the  law  when  he  might  have  had  such 
a  glorious  feud.  He  gathers  his  relatives  about  him, 
breaks  into  his  enemy's  house,  murders  him,  his  son, 
and  his  brother,  with  several  servingmen,  and  carries  off 
not  only  his  own  property,  but  more  too.  This  was  the 
second  act  of  the  feud.  But  now  comes  in  the  bishop, 
Gregory  himself,  and  promises  that  if  the  two  parties 
will  submit  the  quarrel  to  the  court,  he  will  pay  the  fine 
of  Sicharius.  Sicharius  was  willing,  as  well  he  might 
be,  but  the  son  of  his  murdered  enemy,  Chramni- 
sind  by  name,  refuses,  and  insists  on  his  right  of  re- 
venge. Sicharius  sets  out  for  the  king's  court  to  bring 
the  case  before  the  highest  tribunal.  The  rumor 
spreads  that  he  has  been  murdered  on  the  way,  and 
Chramnisind  with  his  relatives  falls  upon  his  estate, 
burns  several  houses,  murders  several  servingmen  again, 
and  carries  off  all  the  cattle  and  other  plunder  that  he 
can  get  at.  This  is  the  third  act.  Sicharius  and  Chram- 
nisind are  now  brought  before  the  court,  and  a  decision 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW.  87 

is  reached.  Chramnisind  not  only  gets  off  without  any 
penalty,  but  actually  receives  from  Sicharius,  who  has 
throughout  been  the  less  ferocious  of  the  two  parties, 
one-half  of  what  he  would  have  received  if  he  had  not 
chosen  to  seek  vengeance  himself.  The  explanation  of 
this  is  probably  that  while  Chramnisind  had  confined 
himself  to  destruction  of  property  and  slaves,  Sicharius 
had  had  the  misfortune  to  murder  three  free-born 
Franks. 

The  two  enemies  now  became  bosom  friends;  but 
some  time  afterward,  at  a  grand  supper  in  the  house  of 
Chramnisind,  Sicharius,  heated  with  wine,  cannot  help 
saying :  "  You  ought  to  be  greatly  obliged  to  me,  my 
friend,  for  murdering  your  relations ;  the  money  I  had 
to  pay  you  has  quite  set  you  up  in  the  world."  Here- 
upon the  old  barbarian  passion  flames  out  again,  and 
Chramnisind  says  to  himself:  "If  I  don't  avenge  the 
murder  of  my  relatives  I  deserve  to  lose  the  name  of  a 
man."  He  suddenly  blows  out  the  lights  and  splits  the 
skull  of  Sicharius  with  his  dagger.  This  is  the  fourth 
act.  He  then  strips  the  body,  hangs  it  naked  to  his 
gate-post,  and  hastens  to  the  king.  Finally,  after  proving 
that  Sicharius  had  murdered  his  relatives,  he  recovers 
his  honor,  and  so  far  as  we  know  lived  and  died  a 
respectable  gentleman.  —  Greg.  Turonensis  VII.  47, 
IX.  19. 

The  same  process  of  transition  from  a  notion  of  law 
which  made  it  right  for  every  man  to  revenge   The 
his  own  wrongs  by  taking  a  life  for  a  life,  an   "Wergeld" 
eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  to  the  more  civil- 
ized notion  of  paying  a  well-defined  penalty  for  such 
an  offence,  is  seen  in  the  whole  matter  of  crimes  among 


88  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

the  Germans.  Through  all  the  folk-laws  there  appears 
one  curious  fundamental  idea,  that  a  man's  life  has  a 
given  worth  in  money.  No  doubt  this  was  a  pretty  late 
stage  in  the  legal  growth  of  these  people ;  it  could 
hardly  have  been  true  until  the  idea  of  the  common 
use  of  money  as  a  measure  of  values  had  made  its  way 
among  them.  The  value  of  a  man  was  called  his  "  Wer- 
geld"  (man-money),  and  varied  considerably  among  the 
different  tribes.  It  rested  perhaps  originally  upon  the 
amount  of  land  owned  by  the  given  man,  but  that  had 
been  forgotten,  and  it  depended  upon  the  rank  of  the 
man  in  society.  The  wergeld,  like  all  other  values,  was 
reckoned  in  shillings  {solidi),  an  amount  which  we  can- 
not estimate  with  any  great  certainty ;  but  we  may  form 
some  idea  of  how  much  a  man  was  worth  from  the  fact 
that  in  the  law  of  the  Alemanni  a  first-rate  cow  was 
worth  one  solidus  and  two-thirds,  while  the  wergeld  of 
a  freeman  was  two  hundred  solidi.  According  to  the 
Salic  law  the  ordinary  Frankish  freeman  was  worth  two 
hundred,  and  the  ordinary  Roman  landholder  one  hun- 
dred; but  if  these  were  in  the  special  service  of  the 
king  (trustis),  their  wergeld  was  tripled.  The  Frisian 
noble  was  worth  eighty  shillings ;  the  freeman,  fifty-three 
shillings  and  one  penny ;  and  the  serf  (litus),  twenty- 
seven  less  one  penny. 

Lesser  offences  were  formerly,  no  doubt,  settled  on 
the  eye-for-an-eye  principle;  but  in  process  of  time  a 
given  value  had  come  to  be  fixed  upon  each  offence, 
and  the  effort  of  the  law  was  to  induce  men  to  make 
use  of  these  fines  instead  of  claiming  the  ancient  right 
of  retaliation.  The  most  singular  nicety  in  this  regard 
is  seen  in  the  Frisian  law,  one  of  those  in  which  the 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW.  89 

original    German  character   had  been   most   carefully 
preserved. 

Long  experience  in  deciding  actual  cases  had  proba- 
bly taught  the  judges  about  how  much  the  Graduated 
criminal  would  be  willing  to  pay  rather  than  penalties. 
resort  to  arms,  and  when  the  law  came  to  be  written 
down,  these  figures  were  given  to  serve  as  the  rule  of 
the  future.  Thus,  in  the  Frisian  law,  if  a  man's  nose 
were  cut  off,  he  received  twenty  shillings  ;  if  it  were  only 
pierced  through,  fifteen.  An  eyebrow  was  worth  two 
shillings  ;  a  canine  tooth,  three  ;  a  molar,  four.  A  hand 
cost  almost  as  much  as  the  full  wergeld ;  a  thumb,  thir- 
teen and  a  third  shillings;  the  forefinger,  seven;  the 
middle  finger,  six  and  two-thirds  ;  the  ring  finger,  eight ; 
the  little  finger,  six.  If  several  wounds  were  made  with 
one  blow,  they  were  measured,  and  the  longest  one  was 
paid  for  according  to  its  length,  but  just  how  much  we 
are  not  told.  Evidently  this  latter  provision  was  not 
definite  enough  to  suit  the  needs  of  justice,  for  in  the 
later  "  additions  of  the  wise  men  "  we  find  that  in  this 
case  of  several  wounds  made  by  one  blow,  the  wounded 
man  must  first  swear  that  such  was  the  case,  and  then 
each  wound  was  to  be  paid  for  as  follows :  if  it  was  as 
long  as  the  first  joint  of  the  forefinger,  one  shilling ;  if 
as  long  as  the  first  two  joints,  two  shillings ;  if  as 
long  as  the  first  two  and  half  of  the  third,  three  shillings ; 
and  if  the  full  length  of  the  forefinger,  four  shillings. 
Then  another  shilling  was  added  for  the  length  %i  the 
space  between  the  forefinger  and  the  thumb ;  another, 
for  the  lower  thumb-joint,  making  six ;  but  if  the  wound 
was  as  long  as  the  whole  span,  from  the  tip  of  the  fore- 
finger to  the  tip  of  the  thumb,  the  price  jumped  sud- 


90  GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW. 

denly  to  twenty-four  shillings;  and  if  it  was  longer 
only  by  the  difference  between  this  span  and  that  of 
the  thumb  and  the  middle  finger,  the  price  rose  to 
thirty-six.  Evidently  the  good  men  Avho  made  these 
changes,  lived  at  a  time  when  strong  efforts  were  being 
made  to  tame  these  wild  men  of  the  northern  marshes, 
by  making  the  punishment  for  wrong  more  severe  than 
it  had  been. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  charity  shown  by  the  Ger- 
,    mans  toward  the  Romans  in  their  conquest. 

The  Frankish .        .  * 

law  as  law  I  he  same  charity  in  legal  matters-was  shown 
of  the  aiSQ  -foy  £]ie  several  tribes  toward  each  other. 

conqueror. 

As  the  Frankish  arms  finally  prevailed  over 
all  the  rest,  so  the  Salic  law  came  to  be  dominant  over 
all  the  other  Germanic  laws  of  the  continent.  But  it 
did  not  drive  them  out.  It  respected  them,  added  to 
them,  and  tried  to  make  them  conform  to  its  public 
necessities';  but  in  all  the  private  dealings  of  man  with 
man,  the  conquered  tribes  were  at  liberty  to  go  on  as 
they  had  been  living.  When,  after  the  conquest  of  the 
Saxons  by  Charlemagne,  the  Frankish  count  was  sent 
into  the  Saxon  country  to  administer  law,  it  was  Saxon 
law  that  he  had  to  administer.  Indeed,  Qharlemagne 
went  so  far  as  to  have  the  laws  of  these  conquered 
countries  reduced  to  written  form,  and  thus  helped  to 
preserve  them  to  us. 

The  result  was,  that  these  old  systems  we  have  been 
studying  continued  pretty  much  as  they  had  been,  and 
formed  the  basis  of  legal  action  during  the  whole  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  They  showed  a  remarkable  power 
of  adapting  themselves  to  changing  circumstances,  and 
it  was  not  until   late   in   the  Middle   Ages   that   the 


GERMANIC  IDEAS  OF  LAW.  91 

newly  discovered  and  newly  studied  Roman  law  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  them  out  of  most  of  the"  German  laws 
continental  countries.     Even  then  the  strug-  finally  driven 
gle  was  a  long  and  bitter  one.     It  was  only  Jjjjj^ 
because  the  whole  idea  of  government  on  the 
continent  had  changed  so  much  from  the  £&rly ^liberty 
of  the  Germans  to  the  monarchical  notions  of  later  times 
that  the  victory  of  the  Roman  law  was  possible.    Where 
that  change  had  not  taken  place,  especially  in  England, 
the  old  laws,  very  much  modified  of  course,  but  still 
much  the  same  in  spirit,  remained,  and  we  in  America 
are  living  to-day  under  a  system  of   law   wnfch  lias 
never,  to  any  great  extent,  been  affected  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  Roman  imperialism. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

RISE    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

Literature:  —  J.  K.  L.  Gieseler:  A  Text-book  of  Church  His- 
tory. Ed.  by  H.  B.  Smith.  5  vols.  N.Y.  1857-80.  The  most 
useful  to  the  scholar  of  all  general  Church  histories,  but  not  in- 
tended for  the  general  reader.  Made  up  mainly  of  critical  notes. 
—  A.  Neander  :  A  General  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and 
Church.  12  ed.  5  vols.  Boston.  The  earliest  of  the  scientific 
Church  histories,  and  still  valuable.  —  Philip  Schaff :  History  of 
the  Christian  Church.  Vols.  I.-1V.  1886.  Reaching  to  the 
year  1073  ;  valuable  especially  for  bibliography  and  for  its  sys- 
tematic arrangement.  —  Karl  Hase  :  A  History  of  the  Christian 
Church.  N.Y.  and  Lond.  1855.  The  most  popular  of  the 
shorter  German  Church  histories.  —  G.  P.  Fisher :  History  of  the 
Christian  Church.  N.Y.  1887.  With  maps.  — J.  Alzog  (Cath.)  : 
Manual  of  Universal  Church  History.  Trans,  from  the  German. 
Cinn.  1874-78.  —  J.  F.  Clarke:  Events  and  Epochs  in  Religious 
History.  Boston,  1881.  —  J.  H.  Allen  :  Christian  History ;  first 
period.  1883.  —  G.  P.  Fisher :  The  Beginnings  of  Christianity. 
N.Y.  1877.  —  A.  Neander:  History  of  the  Planting  and  Training 
of  the  Christian  Church  by  the  Apostles.  2  vols.  Lond.  1851. 
H.  H.  Milman  :  The  History  of  Christianity  to  the  Abolition  of 
Paganism  in  the  Roman  Empire.  3  vols.  —  E.  Renan  :  Histoire 
des  Origines  du  Christianisme.  7  vols.  1876-82.  —  F.  C.  Baur : 
The  Church  History  of  the  First  Three  Centuries.  2  vols. 
Lond.  1878-9.  —  Edwin  Hatch:  Organization  of  the  Early 
Christian  Churches.  Bampton  Lectures.  1881.  —  H.  H.  Mil- 
man:  History  of  Latin  Christianity.  8  vols.  N.Y.  1880. — 
J.  C.  Robertson:  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  8  vols. 
N.Y.  1874.  —  Charles  Hardwicke:  History  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Lond.  1861.  — R.  C.  Trench: 
Lectures  on  Mediaeval  Church  History.     Lond.  1877. 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  W6 

During  all  these  years  in  which  the  South  and  West 
of  Europe  had  been  going  through  the  change  from  the 
sovereignty  of  Rome  to  that  of  the  Germanic  peoples, 
one  great  institution,  and  one  only,  had  gone  on  develop- 
ing  in  power  and  influence.  This  was  the  Christian 
Church.  It  had  been  an  age  o'f  violence  and  confusion. 
Rome  had  fallen,  never  to  rise  again.  New  nations  of 
Germanic  blood  had  come  and  gone  upon  the  land  which 
had  once  belonged  to  Rome.  New  customs,  new  laws, 
new  languages,  had  taken  the  place  of  the  one  civiliza- 
tion, the  one  law,  and  the  one  language  which  had  spread 
from  Rome  over  all  these  southern  and  western  lands. 
Finally  the  one  Germanic  nation  of  the  Franks  had 
brought  all  the  rest  under  its  rule  and  done  what  it 
could  to  reduce  this  confusion  of  law  and  life  to  order 
and  uniformity.  Its  most  useful  helper  in  that  great 
work  was  the  Church  under  the  form  of  the  Roman 
papacy,  and  we  must  now  try  to  see  how  this  institution 
had  grown  from  its  first  feeble  beginnings  up 
to  the  power  and  grandeur  which  we  find  it 
displaying  at  the  time  of  Charlemagne. 

If  you  will  read  carefully  in  your  New  Testament  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Letters  written  „,   .    .  _ 
by  Paul  and  others  to  the  first  gatherings  of  ningsofthe 
persons  who  called  themselves  followers  of      urc  ' 
Jesus,  you  will  know  as  much  as  any  one  knows  about 
the  beginnings  of  the  Christian  Church.     You  will  find 
that  there  were  scattered  about  in  the  chief  cities  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  especially  in  the  eastern  part  of  it,  little 
groups  of  men  and  women  who  had  found  something  in 
the  teachings  of  Jesus  which  satisfied  their  desires  for  a 
higher  life,  better  than  the  religion  of  Rome  or  that  of 


94  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

any  of  her  conquered  provinces.  From  these  little  con- 
gregations, these  teachings  spread  to  more  and  more, 
until  within  a  hundred  years  from  the  death  of  Jesus 
Ave  find  them  taken  up  by  men  of  learning  and  position, 
and  becoming  so  popular  that  the  Roman  government 
began  to  think  them  dangerous  and  to  try  to  put  them 
down  by  persecution. 

You  must  learn  to  distinguish  carefully  between  the 
Causes  of  belief  of  Christians  and  the  organization  of  the 
persecution.  Church.  It  may  well  be  doubted  if  the  Roman 
government  would  have  cared  to  trouble  the  Christians 
simply  on  account  of  their  beliefs,  any  more  than  it 
troubled  the  numerous  other  religious  sects  of  the 
Empire.  What  really  caused  the  Christians  to  be 
looked  upon  as  especially  dangerous  to  the  state  was 
their  organization  into  something  like  a  great  secret 
society  with  branches  in  all  parts  of  the  Roman  terri- 
tory. We  learn  something  of  how  the  government  felt 
about  this  matter  from  letters  which  passed  between  the 
P1.    ,  Emperor  Trajan  and  the  famous  writer  Pliny 

to  Trajan,  the  Younger,  who  was  a  Roman  governor  in 
about  no.       Agia  Minor>     Pliny  had  done  his  best  t0  find 

something  wrong  about  the  Christians,  but  without  suc- 
cess, and  wrote  to  ask  the  Emperor's  orders,  saying  that 
so  far  as  he  could  make  out,  their  only  offence  was  meet- 
ing in  secret  and  performing  certain  harmless  services 
to  their  God.  Trajan  replies  that  if  any  were  known  to 
be  Christians,  they  were  to  be  punished,  but  evidence 
against  them  was  not  to  be  sought  for.  He  speaks  of 
them  very  much  as  he  does  in  another  letter  of  certain 
fire  companies  which  might  be  very  good  things,  but 
were  not  to  be  tolerated  because  they  were  associations, 


RISE  OF   THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  95 

and  associations  were  dangerous  to  the  state.  Indeed, 
we  cannot  wonder  that  a  government  which  depended 
for  its  existence  upon  the  prompt  obedience  of  every 
subject  should  be  very  hard  upon  persons  who  did  not 
like  to  serve  in  the  army,  would  not  go  before  the  courts 
of  law,  would  not  take  an  oath,  and,  worst  of  all,  would 
not  worship  the  statue  of  the  emperor  —  an  act  which 
was  regarded  as  a  test  of  loyalty. 

So  the  government  persecuted  the  Christians,  and  the 
more  they  were  persecuted,  the  more  they  Conversion  of 
increased  in  numbers  and  influence.  If  at  Constantino. 
times  the  persecution  became  unbearable,  they  hid  them- 
selves in  out-of-the-way  places  until  it  was  over,  or  they 
came  and  offered  themselves  to  their  executioners,  with 
such  boldness  and  in  such  numbers  that  the  work 
stopped  for  very  weariness.  This  went  on  with  long 
intervals  of  comparative  toleration  until  finally  an  em- 
peror who  needed  the  support  of  all  classes  among  his 
subjects  became  himself  a  Christian.  The  story  of  the 
conversion  of  Constantine  reminds  one  so  very  strongly 
of  the  later  story  of  the  conversion  of  Clovis  that  one 
is  inclined  to  fancy  that  it  may  have  been  borrowed  for 
the  purpose.  Constantine  was  fighting  with  a  rival 
emperor,  Maxentius,  in  Italy,  not  far  from  Rome,  when, 
just  before  a  battle,  he  saw  in  broad  daylight  a  glowing 
cross  in  the  sky,  bearing  the  words  :  "  In  this  sign  thou 
shalt  conquer."  He  at  once  determined  to  become  a 
Christian.  Another  legend  is  that  Constantine  adopted 
Christianity  as  a  means  of  counteracting  the  magic  arts 
of  Maxentius ;  still  another,  that  he  could  not  find  in 
any  other  form  of  religion  so  good  a  chance  of  forgive- 
ness for  the  abominable  crimes  of  which  he  had  doubt- 
less been  guilty. 


96  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

But  whatever  his   personal  motives,  the   important 

Edi    of  ^ac^  "^or  us  *s  ^a^  as  soon  as  ne  was  master 

Milan,  of  Italy  lie   joined   with  his   fellow-emperor, 

313.  Licinius,  in  publishing  the  Edict  of  Milan, 
which  was  the  first  general  decree  of  toleration  for  the 
Christians.  Until  now  no  one  had  known  how  many 
and  how  strong  the  Christian  believers  were.  All  at 
once,  as  soon  as  the  danger  of  persecution  was  taken 
away  by  the  Edict  of  Milan,  they  showed  what  three 
hundred  years  of  obscurity  and  contempt  had  done  for 
them.  In  a  moment  we  see  the  great  church  organiza- 
tion, as  it  had  been  growing  all  this  time,  fully  developed 
and  ready  for  the  great  work  still  before  it.  Its  growth 
Earliest  ^ad  keen  some thing  like  this  :  at  first,  scat- 

Church  tered  communities  of  Jews  in  the  midst  of 

organization.  ^e  Greek  or  Roman  population.  For  a  while 
it  was  doubted  whether  any  but  Jews  could  properly  be 
admitted  to  the  Christian  fellowship ;  but  a  more  liberal 
view  prevailed,  and  very  soon  the  "  gentile  "  population, 
as  the  Jews  liked  to  call  them,  became  far  more  impor- 
tant to  the  future  of  the  Church  than  the  Jews 
themselves.  In  other  words,  Christianity  was  declared 
to  be  a  religion  for  all  men  everywhere,  not  merely  for 
the  men  of  one  race.  This  was  its  first  great  triumph, 
and  it  was  largely  due  to  the  insight  and  energy  of 
Paul,  who  thus  earned  for  himself  the  proud  title  of 
"Apostle  to  the  Gentiles."  How  much  organization 
there  was  in  these  early  communities  we  do  not  know. 
It  is  most  probable,  however,  that  they  were  simply 
bodies  of  men  and  women,  bound  together  by  a  com- 
mon belief,  and  not  as  yet  having  a  fixed  form  of  gov- 
ernment, because,  as  yet,  they  did  not  need  it.     Very 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  97 

early  we  find  persons  among  them  called  "  deacons" 
whose  business  it  was  to  attend  to  the  wants 
of  the  poor,  and  not  much  later  we  meet  with 
"  elders  "  (presbyters)  who  appear  as  the  leading  persons 
of  the  community.     Then  we  find  one  among  these  pres- 
byters distinguished  as  the  "  overseeing  presbyter  "  (epis- 
copal presbyter,  "bishop").     These  officers  had  charge  of 
the  church  service  and  the  government  of  the  community. 
They  grew  up  because,  as  the  congregation  grew,  there 
was  need  of  some  one  to  direct  its  affairs. 
Through  all  the  bitter  years  of  persecution 
the  authority  of  the  officers,  especially  of  the  bishop, 
grew  and  strengthened.     The  congregation  needed  and 
demanded  its  best  man  for  its  bishop,  and  he  became 
the  natural  centre  of  the  church  life.     In  all  this  early 
period  there  was  a  bishop  to  each  considerable  church, 
and  whatever  authority  he  had  was  only  over  the  pres- 
byters, deacons,  and  members  of  that  one  church.     At 
first,  also,  the  church  officers  continued  in  their  ordinary 
business  like  the  rest  of  the  church  members.     It  was 
only  gradually  that  they  came  to  be  separated  from  and 
supported  by  the  other  members.     That  was  the  church 
organization  during  its  time  of  trial.     We  see  in  it  still 
the  reflection  of  that  simplicity  which  the  great  teacher 
of   humility  had  commanded.     The  time  of   trial   was 
also  the  heroic  age  of  Christianity,  the  age  of  its  most 
eager  defenders,  its  bravest  martyrs,  its  grandest  ideals. 
But  now  see  how  all  this  was  changed  when  by  the 
Edict  of  Milan  the  pressure  of  persecution  ™,     . 
was  taken  off  the  Church,  and  all  the  gathered  becomes 
energy  of  three  hundred  years  was  free  to  power  u ' 
display  itself.     Hardly  had  Constantine  made  himself 


08  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

master  of  the  western  world,  when  he  turned  his  ambi- 
tion toward  the  sole  sovereignty  of  the  Em- 
pire.    A  great  victory  over  the  Eastern  Em- 
peror Licinius  gave  him  this  highest  earthly  position. 
..  Within   two    years  he    called   together   the 

Nicsea,  leaders~of~the  Church  to  the  first  great  gen- 

325.  eraj  (oecumenical)  council  at  Nicsea,  just 
across  the  straits  from  Constantinople.  Here  we  see 
an  assembly  as  far  as  possible  removed  from  that  sim- 
plicity and  humility  which  seemed  becoming  to  the  pro- 
fessed followers  of  Christ.  It  was  a  magnificent  display 
of  worldly  power,  the  first  grand  exhibition  of  what 
seemed  to  be  the  Church  triumphant,  but  what  was 
really  the  Church  entering  upon  an  alliance  with  the 
State, — an  alliance  full  of  all  dangers  to  both  parties. 
These  bishops  who  sat  in  council  at  Nicsea  were  far  from 
being  the  mere  heads  of  single  congregations  we  have 
seen  in  the  earlier  Church.  As  the  Church  had  grown, 
branches  had  been  thrown  out  from  these  central  con- 
gregations, and  the  bishop  had  kept  a  sort  of  sovereignty 
over  the  whole  group  of  churches  united  around  his 
own.  And  further,  in  the  great  cities,  the  man  who 
had  simply  been  the  head  of  a  persecuted  and  despised 
sect,  found  himself,  now  that  Christianity  was  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Empire,  the  spiritual  head  of  all  the  citi- 
zens. Henceforth  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  sepa- 
rate Christian  body  united  only  by  a  common  belief, 
and  bound  to  keep  itself  high  and  pure  for  a  light  to 
the  heathen  world  about  it ;  but  all  the  Roman  world 
was  Christian  because  the  Emperor  so  willed  it. 

The  Council  of  Nicsea  brings  us  to  the  question  of 
the  belief  of  the  Church.     If  you  will  go  back  again  to 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  99 

your  New  Testament  and  read  ever  so  carefully  the 
four  different  stories  of  the  life  and  teaching  of  «  .  f 
Jesus,  you  will  see  that  he  nowhere  lays  down  Church 
a  definite  form  of  belief  which  he  demanded  octrme* 
of  all  his  followers.  Nor  did  he  leave  a  single  written 
word  behind  him  which  might  serve  as  a  guide  to  those 
who  wished  to  understand  his  teaching.  So  that  it  is 
not  strange  that  men  were  long  at  a  loss  to  know  just 
what  Jesus  had  taught,  and  that  different  men  under- 
stood it  very  differently.  Just  as  it  was  with  the  or- 
ganization, so  it  was  with  the  belief ;  there  was  a  long 
time  of  uncertainty,  of  very  simple  beliefs  on  the  whole, 
and  then  as  more  learned  men  began  to  take  an  interest 
in  Christianity,  they  tried  to  find  meanings  in  it  which 
we  may  be  sure  Jesus  never  dreamed  of.  Then  these 
men  were  answered,  and  so  a  spirit  of  strife  and  conten- 
tion grew  up  inside  the  Church,  which  made  the  heathen 
ridicule  it,  and  say  that  the  Christians  did  not  know 
what  they  did  believe. 

Most  of  these  discussions  were  about  points  so  com- 
plicated that  it  would  be  too  much  for  us  to  The  Arian 
expect  to  understand  them;  but  there  was  controversy. 
one  which  we  cannot  pass  without  a  word.  Men  had 
not  been  content  to  take  the  .simple  account  of  Jesus 
as  it  appears  in  the  New  Testament  stories,  but  had 
made  a  mystery  out  of  it,  and  had  gone  into  violent 
controversies  on  the  question  whether  Jesus  was  God, 
or  a  man,  or  both.  Finally,  a  few  years  before  the 
Council  of  Nicsea,  the  question  was  taken  up  by  an 
Egyptian  presbyter,  named  Arius,  on  one  side,  and 
Athanasius,  afterward  the  bishop  of  Alexandria,  on  the 
other.     Both  admitted  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God, 


lt)0  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

who  had  become  an  actual  flesh-and-blood  man  to  redeem 
the  world  from  sin.  Athanasius  maintained,  however, 
that  Jesus  was  of  the  same  substance  with  God  and 
co-eternal  with  Him,  while  Arius  denied  both  these 
points,  because  it  seemed  to  him  that  Athanasius  was 
either  making  two  gods,  or  else  dividing  God  into  two 
parts. 

The  Council  of  Nicsea  was  called  mainly  to  settle 
The  creed  of  this^'AHan-Athanasian  controversy.  It  de- 
fficsea,  cicled  by  a  great  majority  in  favor  of  Athana- 

325#  sius,  and  his  doctrine  has  remained  to  this 
day  the  belief  of  the  orthodox  Catholic  Church,  both 
Greek  and  Roman,  and  has  been  kept  by  the  vast 
majority  of  the  Protestant  churches  which  grew  out  of 
the  Roman  Catholic.  Thus  we  see  that  at  the  time  of 
the  Council  of  Nicsea  the  Church  had  taken  on  the 
form,  both  as  to  belief  and  organization,  which  it  was  to 
maintain  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  and  for  how  much 
longer  we  cannot  even  guess.  We  have  now'  two  other 
points  in  its  growth  to  study, — the  separation  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Churches  and  the  rise  of  the 
Roman  papacy. 

The  separation  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches 
Division  of  was  tHeresult  of  many  causes.  In  spite  of  the 
the  Church,  fact  that  Rome  had  conquered  all  the  coun- 
tries lying  about  the  Mediterranean,  it  was  still  clear  that 
all  of  these  countries  lying  east  of  the  Adriatic  formed  a 
Greek  world.  Their  inhabitants  talked  Greek  and 
thought  Greek.  They  had  for  generations  been  edu- 
cated by  Greeks  according  to  Greek  modes  of  thought?. 
West  of  the  Adriatic  all  was  in  the  same  way,  Latin. 
The  people  had  taken  on  the  Roman  stamp  and  had 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  101 


become  famous  for  just  the  qualities1  which  had'  made 
the  power  of  Rome,  for  government  and  law  (a) ,  differ_ 
and  military  skill.  If  everywhere  in  this  j^cgof" 
western  world  we  find  Greek  schools  and  an  Clvl  lza  10n ! 
enthusiastic  reverence  for  Greek  learning,  this  was  only 
a  varnish  upon  a  civilization  which  was  really  Roman. 
And  when  the  Church  came  to  be  spread  over  the  whole 
Empire,  it,  too,  showed  the  effects  of  this  different  char- 
acter of  the  Eastern  and  Western  populations.  The 
great  quarrels  about  doctrine  raged  almost  wholly  in 
the  East,  where  the  people  were  more  highly  educated 
and  given  to  speculations  of  every  sort.  Even  after 
the  Council  of  Nicsea  the  same  controversies  went  on  in 
the  East  under  other  forms,  whereas  the  Western  Church 
accepted  the  Nicene  decrees  as  final  and  never  wavered 
from  the  Athanasian  faith.  In  the  same  way,  when  it 
came  to  organization,  we  find  the  Eastern  Church  with- 
out any  real  centre  of  government  or  authority,  while 
the  Western  churches  grew  into  a  solid  body  about 
Rome  as  a  centre. 

Then  again,  the  Church  was  greatly  affected  by  the 
division  of  the  Empire  itself.    This  had  begun   (6) ,    the 
before  the  time  of  Constantine,  and  though  political 
he  actually  governed  both  halves,  still  it  was 
clear  that  they  were  two  halves,  and  not  a  whole,  as  they 
had  been  in  the  time  of  Augustus.     From  the  time  of 
Diocletian  the  city  of  Rome  had  been  less  and  less  pop- 
ular as  an  imperial  residence,  and  when  Constantine 
became  sole   Emperor,  he  gave  the  final  blow  to  the 
political  supremacy  of  Rome  by  building  for 
himself  a  new  capital  on  the  shores  of  the 
Bosphorus,  which   he  called    Constantinople.     At  his 


102  RISE  OF'' THE*  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

death*  the 'Em'pire  was  again  divided,  and  from  that  time 
on,  in  spite  of  an  occasional  reunion  in  one  hand,  there 
were  always  two  centres  of  government.  The  close 
connection  of  the  government  with  the  Church  then 
brought  it  about  that  the  Church  also  began  more  and 
more  to  group  itself  about  the  same  two  centres. 

Finally,  resulting  from  these  differences  in  the  char- 
•  ac^r  0I*  the  people  and  in  method  of  growth, 
naidifferen-  there  began  to  be  differences  of  doctrine 
upon  which  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches 
were  sharply  divided.  Thgse  were  chiefly  the  doctrines 
with  regard  to  the  worship  of  images,  and  then,  after 
the  violence  of  that  controversy  had  subsided,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  so-called  "procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
It  would  not  be  worth  our  while  to  go  into  these  ques- 
tions. You  will  often  hear  it  said  that  they  were  the 
cause  of  the  separation  of  the  churches,  but  the  thing 
to  be  remembered  is  that  this  separation  was  a  long, 
slow  process,  growing  out  of  deep-seated  differences  of 
character  and  tradition  in  the  two  populations.  Numer- 
ous attempts  were  made  to  unite  them ;  but  however 
willing  a  few  leading  men  might  be  to  come  to  an  agree- 
ment, the  churches  as  a  whole  were  too  widely  apart 
ever  to  hope  for  a  real  union. 

Some  of  the  same  causes  we  have  just  been  studying 
Growth  of  the  were  working  at  the  same  time  to  help  on 
Roman  papacy,  the  growth  of  the  most  important  church  in- 
stitution with  which  we  shall  have  anything  to  do  —  the 
Roman  Papacy.  The  church  in  Rome  was  one  of  the 
earliest  Christian  congregations.  We  should  know  this 
by  the  letters  of  Paul  written  to  the  Roman  Christians. 
In  later  times  the  Roman  church  claimed  that  it  had 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  108 

been  founded  by  the  Apostle  Peter,  but  this  cannot  be 
proved.  Of  course  the  church  of  the  largest  and  most 
important  city  of  the  West,  the  seat  of  the  (a),  ..  ._ 
imperial  government,  and  the  chief  centre  of  cal  headship 
trade,  must  needs  have  become  also  a  centre  °  omei 
of"  church  life.  It  became  a  vigorous  nlother-church, 
from  which  branches  were  sent  out  to  all  the  countries 
of  the  West.  If  now  these  branch  churches  were  at 
any  moment  uncertain  about  the  exact  doctrine  or  the 
precise  rule  of  church  government,  they  would  naturally 
send  to  ask  the  opinion  of  the  Roman  bishop,  and  these 
opinions,  given  at  first  by  Avay  of  advice  and  counsel, 
soon  came  to  have  a  sort  of  legal  force.  If  the  Roman 
church  accepted  this  or  that  point  of  doctrine,  this  was 
generally  enough  to  make  it  accepted  by  all  the  churches 
of  the  West,  and  by  west  we  mean  the  countries  lying 
westward  from  the  Adriatic  Sea.  The  Latin  mind  could 
not  understand  the  finer  distinctions  of  the  Eastern  spec- 
ulation, and  was  content  to  take  its  belief  ready-made 
from  the  authority  which  seemed  most  likely  to  have 
the  truth  of  the  matter.  Thus  we  have  seen  that  while 
the  East  was  torn  by  the  great  Arian  controversy,  the 
whole  Church  of  the  West  stood  firmly  under  the  lead 
of  Rome  for  the  Atnanasian  doctrine,  and  this  could  not 
fail  to  strengthen  the  belief  throughout  the  West  that 
Rome  was  its  natural  head. 

So  in  the  case  of  some  important  questions  affecting 
the  membership  of  the  growing  Church.  Some  (ft)  by  doctri- 
maintained  that  church  members  who,  through  tion  j 
fear  of  persecution,  had  denied  their  belief  were  no  longer 
Christians.  Others  said,  that  if  a  man  had  been  admitted 
to  Christianity  by  a  priest  who  was  not  in  all  respects 


104  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

sound  in  doctrine,  he  was  not  a  proper  Christian,  and 
must  be  baptized  over  again  by  a  true  believer.  On 
both  these  points  the  Church  of  Rome  took  the  Catholic 
view  that  the  Church  was  not  a  close  corporation,  but 
was  open  to  every  one  who  in  good  faith  wanted  to 
be  a  member  of  it;  and  this  view,  after  some  hard 
struggles,  prevailed. 

Then  again,  when  the  emperors  began  to  live  less  at 
(c) ,  .  .  Rome,  especially  after  the  building  of  Con- 
a  "temporal  stantinople,  the  church  of  Rome  was  left 
poorer.  more  free  to  exercise  an  influence  upon  the 

governing' nt  of  the  city.  After  Constantine  it  began  to 
get  lands  and  wealth  very  East,  and  every  gain  of  this 
sort  was  used  to  add  to  its  moral  control  over  the  minds 
of  men.  It  was  believed  for  many  centuries  that  Con- 
stantine had  given  to  the  Roman  bishop  a  great  quan- 
tity of  land  in  Italy,  over  which  he  might  rule  like  a 
king  over  his  people.  It  was  not  until  the  fifteenth 
century  that  this  story  was  proved  to  be  false,  but  the 
fact  that  men  believed  it  made  them  look  upon  the  later 
gains  of  land  and  sovereignty  by  the  Roman  bishops  as 
only  a  proper  carrying  out  of  Constantine's  intentions. 
Such  men,  however,  as  the  great  poet  Dante,  who  lived 
in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  saw  the 
dangers  of  this  mingling  of  worldly  power  with  spirit- 
ual, and  cursed  the  Bishop  Silvester,  who  was  supposed 
to  have  received  the  gift  of  Constantine,  as  the  worst 
enemy  the  Church  had  ever  had. 

Thus  in  all  these  ways  the  Roman  bishopric  was  com- 
Thename  mg  to  be  looked  up  to  as  the  leader  of  the 
M  Pope."  Western  Church.  The  word  "  papa  "  (pope)  had 
long  been  in  common  use  for  any  bishop,  as  an  affection- 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  105 

ate  form  of  address,  but  now  from  the  fourth  century 
onward  it  was  assumed  as  a  title  of  especial  dignity  by 
the  bishops  of  Rome,  whom  we  may  now,  therefore, 
always  call  "popes,"  remembering  that  both  the  name 
and  the  power  were  of  slow  growth,  and  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  original  position  of  the  Roman  bishopric. 

The  power  of  the  popes  was   again  enormously  in- 
creased when  the  German   barbarians  came  papacy  0f 
sweeping  over  the  lands  of  the  Empire.     The  Leo  the  Great, 
Germans  were  Christians  by  that  time,  it  is 
true,  but  they  were  Arian  Christians,  and  the  faithful 
Catholics  of  the  western  world  turned  for  support  and 
consolation   to   the    source  whence  they  had  been  ac- 
customed to  receive  advice  upon  all  Church  matters. 
The    popes  of  the   fifth    century   were    men   of   quite 
remarkable  character,  who  fully  understood  their  great 
opportunity  and  were  disposed  to  made  the  most  of  it. 
The  chief  of  these  men  was  L.eo  the  Great, 
the  first  in  the   line   of  popes  who  compre- 
hended the  wide  possibilities  of  the  future.     There  is 
no  part  of  the  policy  of  the  future  papacy  which  we  do 
not  see  clearly  outlined  in  the  work  of  Leo.     We  find 
him  at  one  moment  as  head  of  the  Roman  city  govern- 
ment, displaying  all  the  splendor  of  his  office        452. 
to  check  the  ravages  of  Attila  the  Hun  and       455. 
of  Gaiseric  the  Vandal.     At  another  we  see  him  assum- 
ing the  right  to  punish  a  bishop  in  Gaul  for  what  he 
considered  a  violation  of  the  papal  rights.     The  resist- 
ance he  met  with  here    shows  how  far  the  Western 
Church  was  as  yet  from  tamely  submitting  to  the  ex- 
treme claims  of  papal  authority.     Again,  we  hear  him 
preaching  with  such  effect  against  a  certain  most  offen- 


106  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

sive  form  of  wrong  belief  in  the  Church  of  Italy,  that 
an  imperial  edict  was  published  which  ordered  all  who 
shared  this  belief  to  be  driven  from  the  country.  And 
finally,  we  find  him  taking  so  decisive  and  vigorous  ac- 
tion in  a  great  doctrinal  controversy  which  was  tear- 
ing the  Church  to  pieces,  that  he  seemed  for  the  mo- 
ment to  be  the  one  man  in  the  whole  Christian  world 
who  knew  just  what  the  Church  needed. 

This  controversy  was  one  of  those  disputes  arising 
out  of  the  Arian-Athanasian  troubles  which  were  sup- 
posed to  have  been  settled  at  Niceea  a  century  and  a 
quarter  before.  A  council  had  been  held  at  Ephesus, 
in  Asia  Minor,  in  449,  at  which  the  priests  of  one  party 
had  forced  those  of  the  other  by  violence  to  agree  with 
them,  at  which  even  the  patriarch  of  Alexandria  is 
said  to  have  beaten  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople  so 
that  he  died  of  his  wounds.  No  wonder  that  this  gath- 
ering has  been  known  in  history  as  the  "  Robber-coun- 
cil "  of  Ephesus.  This  Avas  just  at  the  time  when  the 
feeble  Emperor  Theodosius  II.  died,  and  the  wise  woman 
Pulcheria  became  Empress.1  A  new  council  was 
Council  of  called  at  Chalcedon,  close  by  Constantinople, 
Chalcedon,  where  the  government  could  at  least  keep 
order.  This  was  Leo's  opportunity.  He 
drew  up  a  statement  of  his  belief  on  the  disputed  ques- 
tions, and  sent  it  by  his  representatives  to  Chalcedon. 
He  had  in  fact  tried  the  same  plan  at  Ephesus,  but 
what  he  had  to  say  had  been  received  with  open  con- 
tempt. This  time,  however,  his  words  were  heard  with 
the  greatest  respect,  and  the  council  passed  a  decree  in 
complete  agreement  with  Leo's  opinion.      The  whole 

1  See  page  49. 


RISE  OF   THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  107 

Western  Church  had  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  the  papacy, 
and  its  belief  was  now  declared  by  a  most  imposing 
assembly  to  be  the  true  doctrine  of  Christendom.  We 
can  well  understand  how  much  this  must  have  done  to 
raise  the  importance  of  Rome  as  the  head  and  authorita- 
tive voice  of  the  Western  Church. 

With  all  these  claims  upon  the  respect  and  gratitude 
of  the  Western  Church,  we  might  suppose  that  The  "  Petrine 
the  papacy  would  have  been  content  to  re-  supremacy." 
main,  what  it  had  solid  grounds  for  calling  itself,  the 
spiritual  leader  of  the  West.  But  it  went  further  than 
this,  and  claimed  not  only  a  leadership,  but  a  divinely 
appointed  authorit^ov  right  of  government,  and  this 
not  only  over  the  West,  but  over  the  East  as  well.  It 
supported  this  claim  by  what  is  called  the  theory  of  the 
"Petrine  supremacy."  This  theory  included  several 
stages.  1.  Peter  was  given  by  Jesus  authority  over 
the  other  apostles,  hence  2.  A  church  founded  by 
Peter  would  have  rights  of  authority  over  those  founded 
in  any  other  way.  3.  Peter  was  the  first  bishop  of 
Rome.  4.  The  successors  of  Peter  would  have  author- 
ity over  the  successors  of  all  other  founders  of  churches, 
therefore  5.  The  Roman  bishop  or  pope  had  authority 
over  all  the  churches  of  Christendom.  You  will  see 
that  this  theory  was  of  especial  value  to  the  Roman 
church,  because  it  put  its  claim  to  authority  on  the 
ground  of  a  divine  commission,  and  thus  made  it  quite 
independent  of  any  accidents  which  might  at  some  time 
have  changed  those  other  and  more  practical  founda- 
tions which  we  have  been  studying.  If,  for  instance, 
Rome  had  been. destroyed,  if  all  Italy  had  been  turned 
into  a  desert,  still  the  divine  commission  would  have 


108  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

remained,  and  the  successor  of  Peter,  whoever  he  might 
be,  would  have  had  a  right  to  claim  the  headship  of  the 
Church.  One  cannot  help  asking  what,  upon  just  this 
claim  of  a  divine  commission,  was  to  be  said  of  the 
rights  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  which  had  a  no  less 
sacred  founder  than  Christ  himself. 

After  the    fall  of    the  Western  Empire  the  papacy 

became  properly  the  subject  of  the  Emperor 
under  the°y  a^  Constantinople.  In  fact,  however,  the 
barbarians.      barbarian  rulers  of  Italy,  Odoacer,  Theodoric, 

and  his  Ostrogothic  successors,  acted  as  the 
protectors,  and  at  times  as  the  dictators,  of  the  Roman 
bishops,  while  the  connection  of  the  latter  with  their 
proper  sovereigns  in  the  East  was  as  feeble  as  it  was 
remote.  The  re-conquest  of  Italy  under  Justinian 
brought  back  the  allegiance  of  Rome  once  more  to  the 
imperial  government,  and  there  it  nominally  remained 
until  the  coronation  of  Charlemagne  in  the  year  800. 
But  even  in  this  interval  there  was  little  to  unite 
the  papacy  to  Constantinople,  and  there  was  much  to 
separate  them.  The  Lombard  occupation  of  Italy 
drew  about  Rome  a  fiery  circle  of  barbarian  warfare 
which  the  Empire  was  powerless  to  break.  During 
this  time  arose  the  controversy  about  image-worship, 
which  was  separating  the  two  churches  more  and  more, 
and  whatever  separated  the  churches,  helped  to  make 
the  papacy  ever  more  independent  of  all  other  authority 
and  more  able  to  insist  upon  its  own  authority  over  the 
whole  spiritual  life  of  the  western  world. 

Between  Leo  the  Great  and  Charlemagne  only  one 
name  among  the  popes  calls  for  our  attention.  Gregory 
the  Great  fills  in  the  outline  of  the  papal  policy  drawn 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  109 

by  Leo  so  completely  that  with  him  we  may  regard  the 
ideal  of  the  mediaeval  papacy  as  pretty  nearly 
established.  In  Gregory  we  see  the  bishop  Gregory  the 
of  Rome  attending  with  painful  minute-  Great> 
ness  to  all  the  details  of  his  office,  as  590"604- 
head  of  that  great  congregation,  but  we  see  still  more 
the  leader  of  western  Christianity.  His  numerous 
letters  show  him  to  us  on  the  one  hand  directing  the 
work  of  the  papal  farms,  now  scattered  through  all 
Italy,  regulating  expenses  or  enforcing  justice ;  and  on 
the  other  hand  actively  concerned  in  whatever  tended 
to  advance  and  elevate  the  cause  of  the  Church  every- 
where. On  the  whole,  the  administration  of  Gregory 
shows  the  papacy  in  perhaps  its  fairest  light.  He  was 
personally  free  from  ambition,  even  of  the  sort  which 
had  eaused  Leo  to  press  to  the  utmost  the  supremacy  of 
Rome  over  other  churches.  He  refused  to  be  called  by 
any  high-sounding  titles,  and  more  than  once  reminds 
his  fellow-bishops  of  the  "  Apostolic  "  churches  that  he 
was  only  their  equal,  not  their  superior.  If  this  fair 
ideal  of  a  papacy  could  have  been  maintained,  its  his- 
tory would  have  been  far  more  worthy  of  its  high  call- 
ing. Gregory  himself  was  a  monk,  and  his  plan  of  a 
renewed  and  active  Christianity  rested  largely  upon  a 
monastic  basis.  To  understand  this  we  have  only  to 
remember  that  those  were  times  when  a  man  could 
hardly  hope  to  keep  himself  clean  from  the  violence 
and  tumult  of  the  world,  except  by  getting  out  of  the 
world,  and  shutting  himself  up  where  he  could  work 
and  live  as  he  would,  and  not  as  other  men  about  him 
were  doing.  So  that  we  must  not  hastily  condemn 
Gregory  and  many  others  after  him  who  took  that  way 


110  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

of  reaching  an  end  which  we  should  try  to  reach  by 
other  means. 

One  event  of  Gregory's  papacy  is  especially  impor- 
n        .      .    tantforus, — the  conversion  of  England.     To 

Conversion  of  7  P 

the  Anglo-  understand  this  we  shall  have  to  go  back 
pretty  far  and  see  how  things  were  in  Eng- 
land before  Gregory's  time.  You  will  remember  that 
the  earliest  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  about  whom 
R  _     we  know  anything  were  Kelts,  a  race  differ- 

pation  of         ent  from  any  of  those  with  which  we  have 
thus  far  had  to  do.     These  Kelts  had  been 
partially  conquered  about  fifty  years  before  Christ  by 
the  Romans  under  Julius  Caesar,  and  a  Roman  govern- 
ment had  been  set  up  over  a  great  part  of  England.    But 
Romans  had  never  gone  to  England  in  any  great  num- 
bers, and  the  great  body  of  the  population  had  remained 
Keltic  or  British,  living  under  a  Roman  military  gov- 
ernment but  not  very  much  changed  in  any  way  by  it. 
This  Roman  occupation  went  on  until  the 
year  after  Alaric  had  sacked  the  city  of  Rome, 
when  the  legions  had  been  called  away  from  England 
to  defend  Italy,  and  the  British  Kelts  had  been  left  to 
themselves. 

Long,  long  before  this  time,  no  one  knows  exactly 
„   .    .       r   when  or  exactly  how,  Christianity  had  taken 

Beginnings  of  ... 

the  British  a  strong  hold  in  Britain.  It  may  have  come 
through  Roman  soldiers  or  Roman  traders, 
but  the  one  thing  that  is  fairly  clear  about  it  is,  that  it 
did  not  come  from  the  city  of  Rome  itself.  It  grew 
especially  in  the  western  part  of  England,  in  Ireland, 
and  in  Scotland.  The  greatest  progress  was  made  here 
during  the  fifth  century.     The  famous  St.  Patrick  is 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  Ill 

supposed  to  have  made  his  missionary  journeys  in  Ire- 
land between  430  and  493.  But  now,  in  449,  came  a 
new  people  to  conquer  the  Kelts  of  Britain  and  to 
change  their  whole  condition  as  the  Romans 
had  never  done.  In  449  the  first  swarms  of 
German  invaders  landed  on  the  shores  of  Kent,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  river  Thames.  They  were  a  mixture 
of  Jutes,  Angles  and  Saxons  from .  the  North  of  Ger- 
many, near  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  and  their  united 
forces  began  soon  to  be  known  as  the  Anglo-Saxon1 
people.  They  were  a  far  wilder  race  than  the  other 
German  peoples  we  have  been  studying,  because  they 
had  always  lived  so  much  farther  from  civilizing  contact 
with  the  Romans.  They  were  heathens,  who  had  never 
heard  the  name  of  Christ.  Their  conquest  of  England 
was  slow  but  steady.  In  a  little  more  than  a  century 
Christianity  had  almost  disappeared  from  England 
proper,  and  was  to  be  found  only  in  Wales,  Ireland, 
and  Scotland. 

That  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  monk  Gregory, 
not  as  yet  chosen  pope,  while  passing  one  day 
through   the   slave-market   in   Rome,  saw  a  Augustine, 
group  of  beautiful,  fair-haired  boys  put  up 
for  sale,  and  inquired  who  they  were.     "  Angles,"  was 
the  answer.    "  Well  named,"  said  Gregory,  "  for  they  are 
beautiful  as  angels;  where  are  they  from?"     "Deira." 
"Their  land  shall  be  freed  from  the  ire  of  God  (de  ira). 
What  is  their  king's  name  ?  "     "  .Mia."     "  He  shall  be 
taught  to  sing  4  Allelujah.'  "     And  Gregory  determined 
that  he  would  do  what  he  could  to  recover  the  land  of 

1  I  use  the  word  "  Anglo-Saxon  "  to  mark,  a  little  more  clearly  than 
the  word  "  English  "  might  do,  the  distinction  from  the  "  British." 


112  RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

England  to  the  cause  of  Christ.    When  he  became  pope, 
he  remembered  his  purpose  and  sent  the  monk  Augus- 
tine with  forty  companions  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
'  the   Anglo-Saxons.      His  work  was  favored 

by  the  king  of  Kent,  whose  wife  was  already  a 
Christian,  and  in  the  course  of  two  generations  the  great 
body 'of  the  southern  Anglo-Saxons,  following  the  ex- 
ample of  their  kings,  had  become  converted.  You  will 
The  Anglo-  notice  that  this  conversion,  unlike  thaTTJf  the 
Womef111011  British,  had  come  directly  from  Home.  There 
Roman.  must  come  a  time  when  these  two  churches 

would  come  into  conflict.  The  differences  seem  slight 
to  us.  The  British  church  celebrated  Easter  on  a  dif- 
ferent day,  and  its  monks  shaved  their  heads  after  a 
different  fashion.  But  underneath  these  trifling  differ- 
ences was  the  bitter  hatred  of  the  conquered  against 
the  conqueror,  a  feeling  so  violent  that  it  was  long 
before  the  Keltic  Christians  would  help  the  Roman  mis- 
sionaries to  convert  the  northern  Anglo-Saxons.  At 
last  they  began  this  work,  and  it  was  then,  when  a  part 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons  had  been  converted  to  the  Roman, 
and  a  part  to  the  British,  forms  of  Christianity,  that  the 
trouble  came.  Many  meetings  were  held,  and  the  dis- 
cussions were  hot  enough;  but  as  might  have  been 
expected,  the  Roman  speakers,  with  all  their  great  his- 
tory and  the  splendid  system  of  Rome  behind  them, 
c  nn  ii  f  prevailed.  The  Council  of  Whitby  settled 
Whitby,  the  question  of  the  allegiance  of  the  Anglo- 

664.  Saxon  church.  "If  it  be  indeed  true,"  said 
King  Oswy  of  Northumbria,  "  that  St.  Peter  holds  the 
keys  of  heaven,  then  I  will  not  oppose  him,  lest  when  I 
come  to  heaven,  there  be  no  one  to  open  the  gates  to 


RISE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  113 

me."  As  flimsy  a  reason,  you  may  think,  as  had  been 
that  of  Clovis,  but  no  less  important  in  binding  closely 
to  the  Roman  papacy  another  of  the  great  Germanic 
nations,  out  of  which  the  New  Europe  was  to  be  built. 

For  something  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the 
death  of  Gregory  the  Great  the  papacy  goes  Papacy  insig- 
011  with  very  little  to  distinguish  it  from  any  ^^^ 
other  bishopric,  under  the  sovereignty  of  the  604- 
Eastern  Emperor.  If  it  had  kept  on  in  that  connection, 
drawn  into  every  political  squabble  of  the  court,  as  the 
bishopric  of  Constantinople  was,  it  would  hardly  have 
been  worth  our  study.  Only  when  the  papacy  comes 
into  its  alliance  of  offence  and  defence  with  the  Frank- 
ish  kingdom  does  it  enter  upon  its  real  place  as  a  great 
agent  in  the  making  of  that  same  New  Europe. 


/ 


/ 


CHAPTER   X. 

PRANKS    AND    MOHAMMEDANS,     638-741. 

Authorities  :  —  Next  to  Gregory  of  Tours  comes  (about  650) 
a  writer  of  whom  nothing  is  known,  but  who  passes  under  the 
name  of  Fkedegarius.  He  begins  his  chronicle  with  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world,  and  comes  finally  to  the  story  of  his  own  times. 
After  him  (about  725)  appears  a  work  called  "  The  Deeds  of  the 
Frankish  Kings  "  (Gesta  Francorum),  by  an  author  whose  very 
name  is  unknown.  These  two  writers  give  us  a  selection  from  the 
mass  of  popular  legends  wThich  were  current  in  their  day,  which 
Gregory  does  not  give,  and  which  but  for  them  would  have  been 
lost.  They  both  have  an  eye  for  politics,  as  Gregory  has  for 
church  affairs.  Here  is  a  choice  specimen  from  Fredegarius  about 
the  birth  of  Clovis  :  — 

"When  Basina,  wife  of  Bisinus,  king  of  Thuringia,  heard  that 
Childeric  had  been  made  king  of  the  Franks,  she  left  Bisinus  and 
came  in  all  haste  to  Childeric.  And  when  he  anxiously  inquired 
why  she  had  come  to  him  from  such  a  distance,  she  said :  <  Because 
I  know  thy  bravery,  have  I  come  to  be  with  thee.  For  if  I  knew 
any  man  under  heaven  braver  than  thou,  I  would  have  gone  to 
him."  Then  Childeric  was  pleased  with  her  beauty  and  took  her 
to  wife. 

"  That  night  she  said  to  him,  '  Go  out  quietly  and  tell  thy  hand- 
maid what  thou  seest  in  the  outer  court  of  the  palace.'  So  he 
arose,  and  saw  the  figures  of  beasts  like  lions  and  unicorns  and 
leopards  wandering  about  in  the  courtyard.  This  he  reported  to 
his  wife,  and  she  said  to  him,  •  My  lord,  go  out  again  and  tell  thy 
handmaid  what  thou  hast  seen.'  He  went  out  again  and  saw 
figures  as  of  bears  and  wolves  roaming  about.  And  when  he  had 
told  her  all  this,  she  bade  him  go  out  once  more  and  tell  her  what 
he  saw.  The  third  time  he  saw  figures  as  of  dogs  and  other  small 
animals  quarrelling  and  fighting  with  each  other. 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  115 

"  Next  morning  Basina  said  to  Childeric  :  '  What  thou  hast  seen 
in  a  vision  is  sure,  and  this  is  the  interpretation  of  it.  A  son  shall 
be  born  to  us  who  will  be  strong  as  a  lion,  and  his  sons  will  be 
strong  as  a  leopard  and  a  unicorn.  Their  children  will  be  strong 
and  greedy,  like  bears  and  wolves.  Those  whom  thou  sawest  when 
thou  wentest  out  for  the  third  time  will  be  the  last  rulers  of  thy 
line.  They  will  rule  like  dogs,  and  their  power  will  be  like  that 
of  the  lesser  beasts.  The  many  other  small  animals  which  were 
quarrelling  and  fighting  with  each  other  are  the  peoples,  which, 
without  fear  of  the  rulers,  shall  war  one  upon  the  other.' 

"  Thereupon  Basina  conceived  and  bore  a  son  named  Clovis,  a 
mighty  man  and  a  brave  fighter,  like  a  lion,  greater  than  all  other 


Another  from  the  Gesta  Francorum  :  — 

"When  Clovis,  after  the  conquest  of  the  Visigoths  came  back  to 
Tours,  he  made  the  church  of  St.  Martin  many  presents.  A  horse 
which  he  had  formerly  given  to  the  said  church  had  been  handed 
over  to  the  church  poor.  The  king  wanted  it  back  again,  and  sent 
a  hundred  gold  solidi  for  it ;  but  no  horse  came.  Then  he  said, 
!  Send  them  another  hundred ! '  And  when  these  were  sent,  the 
horse  came.  Then  the  king  was  glad,  and  said,  '  Sure  enough,  St. 
Martin  is  a  good  friend  in  need,  but  he  is  a  hard  one  at  a  bar- 
gain.' " 

Modern  Works  :  —  Theodor  Breysig :  Jahrbiicher  des  Frankischen 
Reiches,  714-741.  — W.  C.  Perry:  The  Franks  to  the  Death  of 
King  Pepin.  1857.  —  W.Irving:  Mahomet  and  his  Successors. 
2  vols.  N.Y.  1850.  —  E.  Renan:  Mahomet  and  the  Origins  of 
Islam.  In  his  Studies  of  Religious  History.  1864.  —  Sir  Wm. 
Muir:  Life  of  Mahomet  and  History  of  Islam  to  the  Hegira. 
4  vols.  Lond.  1877.  —  Sir  Wm.  Muir :  The  Coran,  its  Compo- 
sition and  Teaching,  and  the  Testimony  it  bears  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  1878.  —  Mohammed:  The  Qur'an.  Transl.  by  E. 
H.  Palmer.     Oxf .  1880. 

We  have  followed  the  German  races  to  their  settle- 
ment on  the  lands  of  Rome.  We  have  seen  something 
of  their  most  marked  differences  from  the  great  nation 


116  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

they  had  conquered,  and  we  have  seen  how  one  among 
them  had  been  chosen  to  be  the  leader  of  the  rest  in  the 
development  of  a  new  civilization  for  Europe.  We  have 
been  dealing  mainly  with  conquests  of  arms,  with  wild 
displays  of  human  passion  and  greed  for  lands  and  gold; 
but  we  have  tried  to  see  also  that  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
confusion  and  overthrow  of  old  things  there  were  signs 
of  a  new  order.  It  was  with  this  purpose  that  we  have 
studied  the  rise  of  the  Christian  Church  and  busied  our- 
selves, though  ever  so  slightly,  with  the  laws  of  the  new 
race,  for  out  of  these  two  possessions  of  the  Germanic 
peoples  the  whole  future  history  of  Europe  was  to  grow. 

It  was,  of  course,  little  more  than  a  blind  instinct  of 
conquest  which  had  led  the  Franks  of  Clovis  to  spread 
their  power  over  all  the  Germanic  inhabitants  of  Gaul, 
and  then  to  reach  out  beyond  the  Rhine  and  the  Alps 
until,  at  the  time  we  left  them,  they  had  become  dis- 
tinctly the  head  of  the  Germans  on  the  continent.  We 
are  now  coming  to  a  time  when  this  blind  instinct  was 
to  become  a  steady  purpose  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
were  capable  of  conceiving  and  carrying  out  a  great 
idea.  These  men  were  the  so-called  Carolingian  rulers 
of  the  Franks,  and  the  idea  was  the  union  of  all  the 
continental  Germans,  not  only  such  as  had  come  on  to 
the  Roman  soil,  but  also  such  as  were  still  living  in  their 
native  forests  and  marshes,  under  one  government  and 
one  religion. 

Thus  far,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Germans  had  never  taken 
Jealousy  of  kindly  to  any  permanent  royal  power.  They 
royal  power.  had  been  willing  to  unite  under  kings  for  the 
purpose  of  conquest,  but,  once  settled  in  their  new  lands, 
they  had  kept  their  old  jealousy  of  a  single  power  and 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  117 

had  claimed  their  part  of  the  conquered  land  as  being 
only  their  right.  This  jealousy  of  the  kings  is  marked 
everywhere,  but  especially  so  among  the  Franks.  There 
is  a  famous  story  of  their  earliest  conquest  which  illus- 
trates this.  After  a  battle  the  chief  men  met  to  divide 
the  spoil,  and  the  king  claimed,  in  addition  to  his  proper 
share,  a  certain  very  beautiful  vase.  One  of  the  freemen 
objected,  and  when  the  king  insisted,  the  rude  warrior 
dashed  the  vase  to  pieces.  It  was  this  same  temper 
which  caused  the  Frankish  nobility,  even  earlier  than 
the  time  of  Dagobert,  to  feel  that  it  had  interests  differ- 
ent from  and  often  hostile  to  those  of  the  king.  Dago- 
bert himself  seems  to  have  been  strong  enough  in  the 
affections  of  his  people,  to  keep  down  the  gathering  dis- 
content ;  but  he  was  the  last  king  who  could  do  this. 

The  spirit  of  independence  in  the  Frankish  nobility 
began,  from  the  time  of  Dagobert,  to  centre  The  "Major 
more  and  more  about  that  officer  of  the  court  Domus," 
whom  we  have  alr^ajjmeJLjln^^  ^  namq  of  thp 
Major  Domus.  This  office  had  at  first  been  one  of 
menial  personal  service  about  a  chieftain,  and  had  then 
come  to  be  a  post  of  very  high  honor,  just  as  the  valet 
of  a  great  man  comes  to  feel  and  to  be  regarded  by 
others  as  a  great  man  himself.  By  the  time  of  Dago- 
bert it  was  an  office  something  like  that  of  a  prime  min^ 
ister,  which,  after  all,  means  only  "first  servant."  In 
those  days  of  constant  fighting  of  course  such  an  office 
could  be  held  only  by  a  man  of  first-rate  military  capa- 
city,  and  as  the  character  of  the  king  came  to  be  less 
and  less  that  of  a  real  leader  of  men,  and  more  and  more 
that  of  a  kind  of  sacred  nobody,  the  importance  of  the 
fighting  minister  became  greater  and  greater.     He  was 


118  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

the  leader  of  the  army  and  the  chief  adviser  of  the  king 
in  all  public  affairs.  The  nobility  seem  to  have  fancied 
that  in  supporting  the  power  of  one  of  their  own  number 
they  were  securing  themselves  against  the  king,  little 
thinking  that  they  were  raising  up  a  new  tyrant  who 
might  prove  as  much  more  dangerous  than  the  old  one 
as  he  was  more  powerful. 

The  death  of  Dagobert  was  followed  by  a  new  period 
The  "Do-  of  meaningless  struggles  for  power  among 
nothing  kings."  hisfeeble  descendants.  Our  only  interest  in 
these  conflicts  is  to  notice  that  they  appear  nowliardly 
as  conflicts  between  the  rival  kings  themselves,  but 
rather  between  the  majors  domus  of  the  different  prov- 
inces, especially  of  Austrasia  and  Neustria.  The  longs 
of  this  miserable  period  generally  came  to  the  throne 
very  young,  and  hardly  any  of  them  lived  to  grow  up. 
They  were  kept  in  an  honorable  seclusion  upon  some 
of  their  estates,  and  were  only  brought  out  once  or 
twice  a  year,  when  they  made  a  sort  of  procession 
before  the  people,  mounted  upon  their  car  of  state, 
were  instructed  what  they  should  say  to  the  assembly, 
and  then  carried  home  again.  The  real  government 
was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  majors  domus.  These 
are  the  kings  who  figure  in  French  history  as  the  "  Do- 
nothing  kings"  (Bois  Faineants'). 

I'n'^rcrgtrTtsTa  the  office  of  the  major  domus  had  come 
p  m  tnr  into  the  hands  of  the  family  which  afterward 
attempt  of  became  famous  as  the  Carolingian.  The 
earliest  member  with  whom  we  nave  to  deal 
is  Pippin  of  Landen,  who  was  the  minister  of  Dago- 
bert. When  Pippin  died,  two  years  after  Dagobert, 
the  nobles  at  once  chose  his  son  Grimoald  to  succeed 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  119 

I 

him.  Grimoald  governed  Austrasia  for  fourteen  years, 
until  the  death  of  Dagobert's  son,  and  then 
it  seemed  to  him  that  jbhe  time  had  come 
to  give  up  the  farce  of  maintaining  at  the  same  time  a 
useful  minister  and  a  useless  king,  and  so  he  proclaimed 
his  own  son  king  of  Austrasia.  But  he  had  got  ahead 
of  his  time.  The  nobles  had  found  the  fiction  of  a 
kingdom  too  convenient  to  be  willing  to  give  it  up  yet ; 
they  rose  against  Grimoald  and  put  him  and  his  luck- 
less son  to  death. 

In  Neustria  affairs  were  taking  a  somewhat  different 
turn.  The  major  domus  there  was  Ebroin,  Austrasiacon. 
a  man  of  extraordinary  ability.  Instead  of  quersNeus- 
resting  his  power  upon  the  support  of  the  tna' 
nobility,  he  had  done  everything  to  make  them  hate 
him,  with  the  apparent  purpose  of  strengthening  the 
power  of  the  kings.  The  result  was  that  the  nobles 
of  Neustria  turned  eastward  for  aid  against  their  own 
major  domus.  The  Austrasians  began  the  war,  and 
were  at  first  entirely  defeated.  Ebroin  carried  the  war 
into  Austrasia,  and  was  in  the  full  tide  of  success  when 
he  was  assassinated.  The  war  dragged  on  for  several 
years,  until  in  the  year  687  it  came  to  a  de-  ~_ 
cisive  battle  at  Testry,  in  which  Pippin  and 
the  Austrasians  were  entirely  victorious.  This  Pippin 
was  the  grandson  of  the  first  of  the  name,  and  goes  by 
the  name  of  Pippin  of  Heristal.  Byjbhe  battleof 
Testry  he  became  the  dictator  of  the  Frankish  king- 
dom. He  dictated  terms  to  the  Neustrian  king,  whom 
he  left  in  nominal  power,  while  the  whole  government 
of  Austrasia,  Neustria,  and  Burgundy  was  actually  in 
his  own  hands.     The  victory  of  Testry  was  also  the 


120  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

victory  of  the  Germanic  over  the  Romanic  elements  of 
the  Frankish  state.  It  decided  once  for  all  that  the 
Germanic  nobility  "Was  to  be  the  agent  in  the  great 
work  of  unification  among  the  tribes. 

We  need  have  no  further  thought  of  the  kings  of  the 
Ch  l  M  rt  l  Franks,  but  can  now  follow  the  fortunes  of 
Major  Domus  the  house  of  Pippin.  At  his  death  Pippin  had 
in   ustrasia,    ^j^  t]iat  ^  0ffice  should  go  to  his  infant 

grandson,  and  not  to  his  illegitimate  son  Charles.  It  is 
curious  to  see  how  this  principle  of  inheritance  of  power, 
having  just  been  shown  to  be  full  of  dangers  to  the 
state  in  the  degenerate  Merovingians,  was  already 
beginning  to  make  itself  felt  again  in  the  line  of  the 
majors  domus.  In  spite  of  the  wishes  of  his  father, 
the  rejected  son  Charles  called  upon  the  nobles  to  sup- 
port him,  and  was  received  with  enthusiasm  as  the 
leader  of  the  Austrasian  name.  The  Neustrian  party 
had  elected  a  rival  mayor,  hut  diaries  was  able  with 
little  difficulty  to  make  good  his  authority  there  as  well, 
and  thus  became  the  real  head  of  affairs  throughout 
the  three  provinces.  Aquitania,  the  country  between 
Loire  and  Garonne,  remained  in  the  hands  of  a  noble 
named  Eudes,  a  relative  of  the  Merovingian  house,  who 
was  glad  to  make  terms  with  Charles. 

The  time  was  one  which  demanded  the  energy  of  a 
Martel  unites  great  man.  Without  such  a  union  of  all  the 
the  kingdom  Prankish  forces  in  one  hand  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  the  nation  could  have  fulfilled  its  mission  in  history. 
Ori~alT"srdes  it  was  pressed  by  enemies.  On  the  north' 
the  Frisians,  and  east  of  them  the  Saxons,  were  con- 
stantly threatening  the  border,  while  in  the  far  south  were 
heard  the  distant  rumblings  of  the  storm  of  the  Mohan> 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  121 

medan  invasion  which  was  soon  to  break  upon  the  fair 
land  of  Aquitaine.  Charles'  first  victories  were  in  the 
north.  In  several  campaigns  he  forced  the  Frisians  to 
acknowledge  his  sovereignty  and  drove  back  the  Saxons 
to  the  line  of  the  Weser.  In  order  to  keep  an  army 
constantly  on  foot  he  found  himself  obliged  to  secure 
the  allegiance  of  the  nobility  by  every  possible  means, 
and  no  means  was  so  useful  to  this  end  as  gifts  of  land. 
By  this  time  the  Frankish  clergy  had  come  into  posses- 
sion of  immense  quantities  of  the  best  lands  of  Gaul, 
and  had  done  all  they  could  to  get  rid  of  paying  to  the 
state  the  duties  of  service  which  land  was  understood 
to  carry  with  it.  This  clergy  had  moreover  fallen  into 
a  sad  state  of  corruption,  the  result  of  ignorance  and 
wealth.  In  order  to  make  these  lands  profitable  to  the 
state  once  more,  Charles  tried  to  put  into  the  church 
offices  such  men  as  would  serve  his  purpose,  and  these 
were  anything  but  the  meek  servants  of  God  which  the 
purest  ideal  of  the  Church  would  have  demanded.  They 
were  mainly  members  of  the  noble  families,  who  saw  in 
these  Church  offices  only  so  many  means  of  power,  and 
they  were  willing  to  promise  service  to  the  t  h  ex_ 
major  domus  in  return  for  the  land.  Per-  penseofthe 
haps,  also,  Charles  did  not  scruple  here  and  c  ergy' 
there  actually  to  take  away  the  land  of  the  churches 
and  give  it  to  laymen  who  would  be  willing  to  serve 
him  in  war.  In  such  cases  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  land  was  only  given  during  the  life  of  the  holder, 
and  would  then  be  in  the  hands  of  the  state  to  be  used 
over  again  in  the  same  way.  The  writers  who  tell  us 
of  these  events  are  all  clergymen,  and  they  have  given 
Charles  a  bad   name   forever   as  a  persecutor  of  the 


122  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

Church.1  They  forgot  in  their  narrow  view  of  things 
that  the  victories  of  Charles  were  opening  the  way  for 
the  spread  of  Christianity  among  the  heathen  of  the 
North,  and  that  these  victories  would  have  been  impos- 
sible without  the  lands  which  were  being  misused  by  the 
churchmen  from  whom  he  took  them. 

It  is  plain  that  under  the  vigorous  policy  of  Duke 
Charles  the  forces  of  the  Franks  were  being  gathered 
into  such  a  shape  that  they  could  be  used  for  a  mighty 
effort,  and  the  call  for  that  effort  was  -near  at  hand. 
Beyond  the  Pyrenees  another  great  power  had  been 
slowly  gathering  its  strength  and  was  now  to  challenge 
the  Christian  rulers  of  the  West  to  a  duel  such  as  the 
world  had  hardly  seen  before.  To  understand  the 
meaning  of  this  conflict  we  must  go  back  and  follow 
the  course  of  that  power  from  its  beginnings  to  its 
/  greatest  height. 

.  Mohammedanism.  During  the  seventh  century  of 
our  era,  while,  as  we  have  been  seeing,  the  forces  of 
Germanic  civilization  were  being  brought  together 
under  the  control  of  the  Frankish  kingdom,  a  new 
religious  impulse  had  been  given  to  the  Arab  races 
lying  eastward  from  the  Red  Sea,  and  had  spread  from 
them  over  all  the  countries  to  the  south  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Just  as  the  new  Christian  society  in  Europe 
was  the  work  of  Germanic  peoples,  so  this  was  to  be 
the  work  of  a  great  Semitic  race.  The  Arabs  were 
related  to  the  Jews  and  Phoenicians,  in  the  same  way 
that   the   Germans   were    related  to   the   Greeks   and 

1  Scholars  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  extent  of  this  secularization  of 
church  property,  nor  as  to  the  time  at  which  it  took  place. 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  123 

Romans;  that  is,  they  were  a  branch  of  the  Semitic 
family,  as  Germans,  Greeks,  and  Romans  were  branches 
of  the  great  Aryan  family.  It  will  seem  strange  to  you, 
and  it  has  puzzled  many  wiser  heads,  that  Christianity, 
which  was  started  by  a  Jew  and  preached  first  to  Jews 
by  Jews,  should  never  have  taken  any  strong  hold  upon 
any  of  the  nations  of  Semitic  blood,  but  should  have 
come  to  be  almost  wholly  the  religion  of  Aryan  peoples. 
Mohammedanism,  on  the  other  hand,  starting  with  a 
Semitic  race,  never  made  any  progress  among  Aryans, 
but  came  to  be,  in  a  wonderfully  short  time,  the  great 
religious  bond  among  Semitic  peoples. 

Mohammed  was  born  in  Mecca,  in  Arabia,  in  the 
year  571  of  our  era.     At  the  age  of  about 
forty  he  conceived  the  idea  of  replacing  the 
various  religious  systems  which  prevailed  among   his 
people  at  the  time,  by  one  simple  faith.     He  began  to 
proclaim  himself  a  prophet  of  God,  and  to  have  visions, 
which  were,  of  course,  ridiculed  by  his  friends  who  could 
not  understand  his  purpose.     He  still  kept  on,  however, 
and  gradually  succeeded  in  persuading  a  few  persons  that 
he  was  indeed  a  prophet  of  God.     His  religious  creed 
was  extremely  simple.     "There  is  one  God,  and  Moham- 
med is  his  prophet "  became,  and  to  this  day  remains, 
the  rallying-cry  of  the  Moslem  (faithful).     Mohammed 
was  just  over  fifty  years  old,  when,  in  the 
year  622  a.d.,  he  was  driven  out  of  Mecca  Th!#5gira' 
and  went  to  live  at  Medina.     The  Moham- 
medans reckon  time  from   this  flight  of   the  Prophet 
(the  "  Hegira  ")  as  we  do  from  the  birth  of  Christ.     At 
Medina  Mohammed  gathered  strength  rapidly  and  soon 


124  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

succeeded  in  taking  the  ancient  and  sacred  city  of 
Mecca.  From  these  two  centres  the  doctrine  was  car- 
ried over  all  Arabia.  If  the  doctrine  were  right,  then  it 
seemed  to  be  right  that  it  should  be  forced  upon  every 
man.  So  the  sword  became  the  great  agent  in  the 
spread  of  the  faith  of  Mohammed.  When  he  died  in 
642  he  had  seen  the_triumph  of  his  doctrine.  Compare 
this  with  the  darkness  of  seeming  failure  and  contempt 
which  covered  the  last  days  of  the  Author  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Whatever  one  may  think  of  the  religion  of  Moham- 
med, it  was  certainly  wonderfully  adapted 

Success  of  ,.  „     ,  ' — -^        i  ■   i    I, 

Mohammedan-  to  the  wants  ot  the  races  to  which  it  came. 
ism-  Tlibugh   forced  upon   them   at  first   by  the 

violence  of  conquest,  they  received  it  without  much 
resistance,  and  soon  came  to  believe  in  it  with  a 
passionate  ardor.  It  succeeded  in  welding  these  desert 
tribes,  which  had  been  scattered  in  dull  and  hopeless 
inactivity,  into  a  mighty  people.  It  inspired  the  most 
devoted  courage,  the  most  sincere  piety,  the  most  severe 
morality.  A  Jiterature  of  vast  extent  and  of  wonderful 
poetic  beauty  was  the  product  of  the  energy  developed 
in  the  great  struggle  for  the  spread  of  the  true  belief. 
At  the  basis  of  Mohammed's  doctrine  (Islam)  was  the 
book  of  teachings  which  he  had  compiled  dur- 
ing his  life,  and  which  were  said  to  have  been 
given  him  directly  by  God.  In  fact,  the  laws  of_the 
Koran  were  the  production  of  a  man  with  a  profound 
insight  into  the  needs  of  his  people  and  his  time.  They 
served  an  admirable  purpose  in  restraining  their  most 
dangerous  vices  and  in  providing  standards  of  right 
which  should  lift  them  up  to  a  somewhat  higher  plane 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  125 

than  they  were  then  upon.  But  like  any  other  set  of 
laws  which  cannot  be  changed,  they  gradually  lost  their 
power  to  carry  the  people  higher,  and  hence  comes  the 
moral  and  intellectual  degradation  of  all  Mohammedan 
peoples  in  the  present  day  as  compared  with  those  peo- 
ples who  accepted  the  teaching  of  Christ. 

But  at  the  time  we  are  studying,  these  evils  had  not 
begun  to  make  themselves  felt.  Within  a  cen-  D^ger  to 
tury  after  the  flight  of  the  prophet  tte_st&n-  EuroPe- 
dard  of  Islam  had  swept  victoriously  westward  from  the 
Red  Sea  to  the  Pyrenees.  In  the  East  it  had  met  and 
driven  back  the  banners  of  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire, 
until  all  that  was  left  to  the  frightened  rulers  in  Con- 
stantinople was  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Macedonia,  and 
Thrace.  It  seemed  as  if  nothing  could  save  Europe 
from  being  gathered  up  between  the  two  arms  of  this 
resistless  power  and  simply  crushed  out  of  existence. 
As  one  looks  at  the  map  and  sees  how  comparatively 
short  the  distance  was  from  the  head-waters  of  the 
Euphrates  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Danube  and  Rhine 
as  compared  with  the  distances  already  traversed  by  the 
armies  of  Islam,  one  learns  the  great  truth  that  distance 
alone  is  not  the  greatest  obstacle  to  conquest.  The 
conquests  of  the  Mohammedans  thus  far  had  been  over 
people  scattered  through  a  vast  extent  of  country,  but 
generally  the  victims  of  a  worn-out  civilization  and  an 
oppressive  government.  At  last  they  had  come  to  a 
country  in  the  West  where  the  ancient  civilization  had 
been  refreshed  and  strengthened  by  the  new  blood  of 
the  Germanic  peoples,  and  in  the  East  the  power  of  the 
Empire  was  not  yet  so  far  gone  that  it  could  not  defend 
itself  within  its  narrow  boundaries,  though  it  could  no 


126  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

longer  widen  its  limits  or  even  retain  those  of  its  early 
vigor.  The  Empire  was  to  hold  out  several  centuries 
yet,  until  Mohammedanism,  re-invigorated  in  its  turn 
by  the  new  blood  of  Turkish  conquerors  from  the  far 
North  of  Asia,  should  drive  it  out  of  existence  and  chal- 
lenge Christianity  to  that  duel  in  the  Danube  valley 
which  seemed  to  be  impending  when  the  kings  of  the 
house  of  Clovis  were  still  on  the  throne  of  the  Franks. 
In  the  West  that  duel  was  to  be  fought  out  far  earlier. 

The  Mohammedans  had  entered  Spain  in  the  year 
The  Arabs  in  711,  au(l  m  tne  battle  of  the  Wadi  Bekka  near 
Spain.  Xeres  de  la  Frontera,  which  is  said  to  have 

lasted  seven  days,  had  completely  broken  the  power  of 
the  Visigothic  kingdom.  They  had  then  swept  on  to 
the  northward  almost  without  resistance,  converting 
multitudes  of  the  inhabitants  to  their  faith,  and  in  seven 
years  had  become  masters  of  the  whole  country  to  the 
Pyrenees.  From  that  time  on  they  were  constantly 
sending  warlike  expeditions  over  into  Gaul,  but  these 
were  generally  of  little  account.  In  721  they  were 
beaten  back,  with  heavy  loss,  by  Eudes,  the  "  Duke  " 
of  Aquitaine,  whom  we  have  already  seen  holding  an 
independent  power  south  of  the  Loire.  If  they  had 
been  able  to  unite  all  their  forces  and  cross  the  moun- 
tains at  that  time  with  a  really  great  army,  the  distracted 
state  of  Gaul  makes  it  probable  that  they  would  have 
had  entire  success. 

It  was  not  until  731,  when  they  had  been  in  Spain 
The  attack  on  f°r  twenty  years,  that  the  time  for  such  an 
Aqnitaine.  assault  came.  We  have  seen  how  by  that 
time  the  great  Major  Domus  had  gathered  into  his  own 
hands  all  the  resources  of  the  Franks  and  stood  ready 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  127 

to  receive  the  onset.  The  first  blow  fell  upon  Eudes. 
The  army  of  the  Mohammedans,  made  up  of  enormous 
masses  of  light  cavalry,  and  commanded  by  Abderrahman, 
the  governor  of  Spain,  in  person,  moved  from  Pampe- 
luna  in  the  spring  of  732,  crossed  over  into  Gascony 
and  besieged  Bordeaux.  Eudes  had  hoped  to  avert  the 
coining  storm  by  making  a  treaty  with  one  of  the 
Mohammedan  generals,  and  had  even  taken  the  unheard' 
of  step  of  giving  him  his  daughter  in  marriage. 
Abderrahman,  however,  had  rejected  this  treaty  and  left 
to  Eudes  no  choice  but  to  fight.  A  battle  took  place 
north  of  the  Dordogne,  and  Eudes  was  totally  defeated. 
He  gathered  his  few  followers  together  and  hastened  to 
throw  himself  upon  the  mercy  of  Charles. 

The   major   domus  had  got   word  of  the  desperate 
straits  in  which  Eudes  was  placed,  and  had  „  _  , 

L  #         Martel  sum- 

sent  out  his  call  throughout  the  Prankish  monshis 
lands  for  every  man  who  could  hear  arms  to  army' 
hasten  to  his  banner.  The  answerjtojthis  c_alLwas_^ilch 
as  no  Merovingian  king  could  have  commanded.  A 
sense  of  the  impending  danger  seems  to  have  caused 
men  to  put  aside  for  the  moment  their  separate  interests 
and  to  feel  themselves,  as  they  had  not  done  for  many 
a  generation,  citizens  of  one  great  state.  Even  from 
the  tributary  Frisians  and  from  the  peoples  beyond  the 
Rhine  came  troops  to  join  in  what  was  felt  to  be  a  strug- 
gle for  all  that  they  held  sacred. 

It  was  a  great  Christian  army  which,  under  the  sole 
leadership  of   the    Frankish   duke,  met   the  Battleof 
countless  host  of  Islam  in  a  plain  near  the   Tours, 
city  of  Tours,  just  south  of  the  Loire.     For      732. 
seven  days,  we  are  told,  the   two  armies   faced  each 


128  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

other,  neither  daring  to  begin  the  attack.  It  was  on  a 
Saturday,  in  the  month  of  October,  that  they  finally 
formed  their  order  of  battle.  The  main  strength  of  the 
Arabs  was  in  their  cavalry ;  the  Germans  as  yet  were  a 
nationj)f  foot-soldiers.  The  result  was  that  which  all 
history  shows  whenever  foot-soldiers  witK  a  solid  back- 
ing of  personal  bravery  have  faced  an  army  of  cavalry 
in  open  fight.  The  Germans  drew  up  in  close  order, 
without  a  gap  in  their  serried  ranks.  All  day  long  the 
wild  charges  of  the  Arab  horse  beat  against  this  wall  of 
men,  just  as  in  our  own  day  the  furious  Moslems  of 
the  Soudan  hurled  themselves  against  the  immovable 
squares  of  the  British  infantry. 

Thousands  upon  thousands  of  dead  covered  the  field ; 
Victory  of  the  but  when  night  separated  the  combatants,  the 
Franks.  Germans  withdrew  to  their  tents,  still  brand- 

ishing their  swords  in  contempt  of  their  baffled  enemy. 
With  the  earliest  dawn  they  were  on  their  feet  again, 
ready  for  the  attack  which  the  perfect  order  in  the  camp 
of  the  Arabs  led  them  to  expect.  As  no  enemy  ap- 
peared, they  sent  out  their  spies,  supposing  that  he  might 
be  intrenched  behind  the  camp.  The  spies  reported  no 
sign  of  life.  Still  they  held  together,  lest  they  should 
be  led  into  an  ambuscade,  and  only  when  they  were 
assured  that  the  enemy  had  indeed  escaped,  did  they 
cautiously  venture  into  the  deserted  camp.  Here  they 
found  immense  plunder,  the  spoil  of  the  captured  cities 
of  the  south.  The  great  battle  was  fought  and  the 
victory  won ;  the  bond  which  held  the  army  together 
was  broken.  After  a  fair  division  of  the  spoil  the 
various  troops  of  which  it  was  composed  went  back 
each  into  its  own  country.     The  Arabs,  beaten  almost 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  129 

for  the  first  time  in  a  really  great  conflict,  retreated  to 
the  east  and  south,  followed  only  by  Charles,  whom  we 
may  now  call  by  his  name  of  "Martel"  (the  Hammer), 
and  a  few  of  his  own  vassals.  They  succeeded  in  main- 
taining themselves  for  many  years  in  the  country  lying 
just  north  of  the  Pyrenees,  but  never  again  tried  the 
terrible  experiment  of  a  Gallic  conquest. 

The  importance  of  the  battle  of  Tours  can  hardly 
be  overestimated.  It  was  not,  like  that  of  importance  of 
Chalons,  a  combat  between  the  forces  of  or-  the  battle. 
der  on  one  side  and  those  of  confusion  and  destruction 
on  the  other;  it  was  a  struggle  for  life  and  death  be- 
tween two  races,  two  religions,  and  two  young  and 
vigorous  civilizations.  We  cannot  conceive  of  the  rude 
hordes  of  Attila  founding  a  state  and  starting  a  new 
course  of  development  for  Europe ;  we  may  well  imagine 
that  the  Arabs,  if  they  had  conquered  at  Tours,  might 
have  done  for  Gaul  what  they  did  for  Spain,  have  made 
it  into  the  seat  of  a  great  Semitic  culture.  That  they 
did  not  do  this,  that  Europe  became  Christian  and  not 
Mohammedan,  Aryan  and  not  Semitic,  is  the  debt  we 
owe  to  those  iron  warriors  who  beat  back  the  wave  of 
Arab  conquest  on  the  field  of  Tours. 

Five  years  after  the  battle  of  Tours  Theodoric,  the 
sole  reigning  Merovingian,  died ;  and  though 
Charles,  remembering,  perhaps,  the   fate   of  ems  without 
Grimoald,  did  not  try  to  take  the  kingdom  aking" 
for  himself,  he  did  not  see  the  need  of  putting- another 
nobody  on  the  throne,  and  simply  went  on  with  the 
government  without  any  king  whatever.      His  public 
documents  were  dated  so  many  years  after  the  death  of 
Theodoric.     We  can  notice  but  one  other  part  of  the 


130  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

work  of  this  most  extraordinary  man,  —  his  relations 

with    the    Church    at   Rome.      The    Roman 
The  papacy 

turns  to  the  papacy  was,  as  we  have  seen,  in  a  condition 
of  the  greatest  danger.  Since  the  recovery 
of  Italy  by  Justinian,  it  had  been  under  the  government 
and  the  nominal  protection  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  but 
this  had  meant  hardly  more  than  taxes  and  a  dictation 
of  which  the  papacy  had  now  come  to  be  very  impa- 
tient. When  a  real  danger,  such  as  the  close  neighbor- 
hood of  the  hated  Lombards,  threatened  it,  the  Eastern 
rulers  gave  it  no  help  whatever,  and  rather  weakened 
it  than  otherwise  by  their  constant  interference.  Then 
upon  the  whole  bitter  question  of  image-worship  in  the 
churches  the  papacy  had  taken  a  stand  directly  opposed 
to  that  of  the  imperial  government.  So  that  more  and 
more  it  became  clear  that  it  must  look  elsewhere  for 
the  political  support  which  was  necessary  to  its  very 
existence.  It  had  been  the  subject  of  the  Empire ;  it 
was  now  willing  to  make  itself  the  subject  of  some  other 
power  which  should  promise  it  the  security  it  could  no 
longer  hope  for  in  its  present  connection. 

At  the  time  of  Charles  Martel  the  pressure  from  the 
„    M     x,       Lombards  was  becoming  a  matter  of  life  and 

Boniface  the  b 

Apostle  to  the  death  to  the  papacy.  There  seemed  to  be 
no  good  reason  why  a  vigorous  attack  upon 
Rome  should  not  be  wholly  successful.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  friendly  relations  of  the  Franks  with  Rome 
had  never  been  interrupted  since  the  conversion  of 
Clovis  brought  them  into  the  Catholic  fold.  And  now, 
especially  under  the  majors  domus,  the  work  of  spread- 
ing the  Gospel  according  to  Rome,  in  the  still  heathen 
countries  of  the  North,  had  gone  on  with  unheard-of 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  131 

vigor  and  success.  The  famous  Englishman  Boniface, 
the  Apostle  to  the  GermansHiad  come  over  from  Eng- 
land and  entered  upon  the  work  of  a  missionary  among 
the  Frisians  along  the  shores  of  the  North  Sea.  From 
there  he  had  gone  over  into  the  valleys  of  the  Main 
and  Danube,  and  had  had  remarkable  success  in  found- 
ing churches  and  monasteries,  which  were  to  be  so  many 
centres  of  light  in  these  still  barbarous  regions.  For  a 
time  he  had  carried  on  this  work  on  his  own  account, 
but  soon  he  saw  that  if  he  could  make  him-  B  .„  , 
self  the  agent  of  Rome,  he  would  strengthen  agent  of 
his  cause  very  greatly.  The  papacy  was  the  ome' 
more  ready  to  adopt  him  as  its  own,  because  there  were 
already  missionaries  at  work  in  these  same  parts,  who 
had  taught  a  form  of  Christianity  different  in  many 
ways  from  that  of  Rome.  These  missionaries  had  come 
from  that  Keltic  church  which  we  saw  established  in 
the  West  of  England,  and  in  parts  of  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land, at  the  time  when  Augustine  had  carried  the  Ro- 
man form  to  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  the  conflict  between 
them  and  Boniface  was  the  same  which  went  on  there 
between  Augustine  and  the  ancient  British  church. 
The  question  in  both  cases  was  the  same ;  should  Rome 
become  the  one  centre  of  church  life  in  the  West,  or 
should  the  life  of  the  church,  like  that  of  the  state, 
gather  about  several  centres  ?  Should  there  be  national 
churches,  or  but  one  all-embracing  Church  Catholic  of 
which  Rome  should  be  the  single  and  supreme  head? 
In  great  parts  of  Germany,  as  in  Great  Britain,  it  had 
seemed  as  if  a  local,  national  church  might  grow  up 
quite  independent  of  Rome;  but  after  the  work  of 
Boniface  it  was  clear  that  the  hold  of  Rome  upon  Ger- 


132  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

many  was  fixed  forever.  Another  question  involved 
here  was  that  of  compact  organization  about  great  epis- 
copal centres  in  place  of  a  loose  system,  which  allowed 
every  landed  proprietor  to  maintain  his  own  clergy- 
men, and  thus  prevented  any  combined  action.  The 
opposition  to  Boniface  may  be  largely  accounted  for 
by  the  attachment  of  the  local  nobility  to  this  looser 
method,  but  the  victory  of  the  principle  of  close  or- 
ganization was  complete.  For  example,  in  Bavaria, 
where  the  population  was  already  nominally  Christian, 
there  had  been  nothing  like  a  fixed  organization  of  the 
Church,  but  through  the  activity  of  Boniface  the  great 
bishoprics  of  Salzburg,  Freising,  Regensburg,  and  Pas- 
sau  were  established  and  filled  by  men  of  undoubted 
fidelity  to  the  Roman  forms. 

All  this  work  of  Boniface,  in  spite  of  a  steady  oppo- 
Marteld  line  siti°n  from  a  strong  party  among  the  Frank- 
to  fight  the  ish  clergy,  was  steadily  supported  by  the 
major  domus  himself.  In  the  midst  of  it 
his  fidelity  to  Rome  was  put  to  a  severe  test.  The 
pressure  of  the  Lombards  upon  the  papal  lands  had 
become  harder  than  ever,  and,  what  was  worse,  the 
quarrel  with  the  Empire  about  image-worship  had  come 
to  such  a  point  that  the  Emperor  had  sent  a  fleet  and 
army  to  take  possession  of  Rome.  Only  a  violent 
storm  saved  the  papacy  from  almost  certain  ruin  by 
the  very  power  which  was  bound  to  protect  it.  The 
Lombard  king,  Liutprand,  had  called  upon  the  pope  to 
deliver  up  certain  rebels  who  had  fled  to  him  for  pro- 
tection, and  when  this  was  refused,  had  regularly  be- 
sieged the  city.  In  this  emergency  the  pope  saw  but 
one  hope  of  escape,  and  that  was  in  the  fidelity  of  the 


FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741.  133 

Frankish  people.  While  the  siege  was  still  going  on, 
he  sent  an  embassy  by  sea  to  Charles  Martel,  who  was 
then  in  the  South  of  France,  fighting  the  Arabs.  Rich 
presents,  among  them  the  chains  of  the  Apostle  Peter 
and  the  golden  keys  of  his  tomb,  the  sign  of  sover- 
eignty in  the  sacred  city,  were  to  serve  as  the  most 
powerful  arguments.  Charles  was  in  a  very  tight  place 
indeed.  His  relations  with  the  Lombards  had  been  most 
friendly.  When  his  son  Pippin  had  come  to  the  age  of 
manhood,  he  had  selected  this  very  Liutprand  as  the 
man  who  should  cut  the  waving  locks  of  the  young 
prince,  and  thus  declare  him  fit  for  the  profession  of 
arms.  At  this  very  moment  he  was  in  close  alliance 
with  Liutprand,  by  whose  help  he  had  been  able  to  turn 
back  a  new  Arab  invasion.  At  the  same  time  he  did 
not  wish  to  offend  the  pope,  and  so  all  he  could  do  was 
to  try  to  ease  the  bitterness  between  the  two  Anxiety  of 
parties.  This,  however,  was  not  what  Gregory  the  P°Pe' 
wanted.  In  letters  which  he  now  wrote,  he  beseeches 
the  "sub-king"  Qsubregulus'),  as  he  calls  him,  not  to 
turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  cry  of  St.  Peter,  and  almost 
promises  him  by  the  mouth  of  another  ambassador,  that 
if  he  will  come  to  Rome  and  deliver  her  from  her  dis- 
tress, he  shall  be  invested  with  that  imperial  sovereignty 
which  the  Eastern  Empire  had  forfeited  by  its  neglect. 
Charles  treated  the  ambassadors  of  the  pope  with  all 
possible  respect,  and  sent  them  home  with  suitable 
gifts,  promising  that  he  would  discuss  their  proposition 
with  his  nobles,  and  send  the  pope  an  early  answer. 
What  that  answer  was  we  do  not  know ;  the  one  thing 
certain  is,  that  Charles  did  not  go  to  the  relief  of  Rome. 
And  if  we  consider  his  own  difficulties,  the  constant 


134  FRANKS  AND  MOHAMMEDANS,  638-741. 

danger  from  the  Arabs  in  the  south,  against  whom  he 
needed  the  help  of  the  Lombards,  his  uncertain  hold 
over  great  numbers  of  his  subjects,  and  the  complica- 
tions with  the  Eastern  Empire  which  were  sure  to 
follow,  we  can  understand  perfectly  well  why  he  felt  it 
safer  to  keep  within  his  own  borders  and  devote  all  his 
energy  to  strengthening  his  place  at  the  head  of  the 
Frankish  people.  It  was  reserved  for  his  grandson  to 
carry  out  completely  the  plan  of  a  great  Roman-Frank- 
ish  alliance,  which  we  have  here  outlined.  Charles 
Martel  died  in  the  year  741.  We  are  to  remember  him 
as  the  man  who  first  made  of  the  Frankish  kingdom  a 
firmly  united  whole,  who  stood  between  the  still  vigor- 
ous German  heathenism  of  the  North,  and  the  wild 
fanaticism  of  Mohammedanism  on  the  South,  and  saved 
Europe  to  Christianity.  The  greater  work  of  Charle- 
magne would  have  been  impossible  without  the  prepara- 
tion made  for  him  by  the  courage,  the  prudence,  and 
the  political  insight  of  Martel. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  MONKS  OP  THE  WEST. 

Authorities:  —  The  innumerable  histories  of  monasteries  and 
orders  and  the  lives  of  prominent  monastic  leaders. 

Modern  Works  :  —  Philip  Schaff :  Rise  and  Progress  of  Monas- 
ticism.  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  April,  1864.  —  Montalembert,  Count 
de :  The  Monks  of  the  West  from  St.  Benedict  to  St.  Bernard. 
Transl.  7  vols.  Edinb.  1861-79.  Phil.,  written  by  a  warm 
partisan  of  the  monastic  system,  but  containing  much  valuable 
material. 

We  have  often  spoken  of  monks  and  monasteries,  but 
have  not  as  yet  considered  them  as  a  part  of  Monasticism 
the  life  of  the  singular  period  we  are  now  not  essential- 
studying.  It  will  be  important  for  us  to  look  y 
at  them  now  a  little  more  closely.  The  monastic  life 
begins  almost  as  soon  as  Christianity.  Indeed,  ages 
before  Christianity,  in  the  religions  of  the  East,  in 
Brahminism,  Buddhism,  even  in  Judaism,  we  can  trace 
a  tendency  of  men  toward  a  form  of  religiousIITe^hich 
is  in  all  respects  like  the  monasticism  of  the  early 
Christian  times.  It  has  even  been  supposed  that  Jesus 
himself  was  a  member  of  the  Jewish  sect  of  the  Essenes, 
who  lived  apart  from  the  active  life  of  their  day  and 
sought  a  special  consecration  in  solitude  and  in  bodily 
deprivations. 

And  hardly  was   Christianity  started  in  the  world, 
when  we  find  this  same  tendency  again  at  work,  driv- 


136  THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST. 

ing  men  out  of  the  wild  life  of  cities  into  the  desert, 
Stages  of  in  the  hope  that  they  might  thus  gain  a  nearer 
monasticism.  communion  with,  the  eternal  life  of  God. 
This  was  especially  the  case  in  Egypt,  where  the  warm 
climate  made  the  hermit's  existence  tolerably  easy  and 
where  the  vast  solitudes  of  the  desert  protected  him 
from  the  violence  of  his  fellow-man.  But  man  is  after 
all  a  social  creature;  he  cannot  get  on  for  any  great 
length  of  time  without  the  society  of  his  kind.  And 
so  we  see  quite  early  these  scattered  hermits  of  the 
desert  gathering  together  into  little  groups,  each  living 
still  in  his  own  cell,  but  feeling  himself  a  part  of  a 
society,  with  a  distinct  character  and  mission.  As  time 
went  on,  this  tendency  to  unite  grew  stronger  and 
stronger.  The  monks  who  had  been  living  in  their 
separate  huts  came  together  under  one  roof  and  organ- 
ized under  the  government  of  one  elder  brother,  to 
whom  they  vowed  obedience.  Then,  finally,  the  scat- 
tered groups  were  brought  together  still  more  closely 
by  the  foundation  of  "  orders,"  with  a  common  rule  and 
a  strong  sense  of  union.  In  the  Eastern  Church  there 
was  never  but  one  of  these  orders,  that  of  St.  Basil, 
which  to  this  day  is  the  basis  of  the  whole  Oriental 
monastic  system. 

In  the  Western  Church  the  conditions  were  not  so 
Western  favorable.  The  climate  did  not  tempt  men 
moDasticism.  to  solitary  life,  and  the  example  of  older 
religions  was  wanting.  So  that  it  was  rather  late,  not 
much  before  the  fifth  century,  and  then  only  here  and 
there,  that  we  see  the  first  faint  efforts  of  "Western 
monasticism.  In  the  South  of  Gaul,  in  the  pleasant 
valleys  of  Provence,  a  few  monasteries  were  built  under 


THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST.  137 

the  leadership  of  a  certain  Cassianus,  and  probably  at 
about  the  same  time  a  similar  work  was  started  in  the 
far-off  regions  of  Ireland  and  Scotland.  We  know  but 
little  of  these  early  movements.  Hardly  anything 
more  than  dim  and  untrustworthy  legends  have  come 
down  to  us,  full  of  miraculous  stories  of  these  holy 
men.  The  really  great  impulse  to  the  monas-  0  ,  f 
tic  spirit  of  the  West  was  given  by  the  famous  St.  Benedict. 
St.  Benedict  in  the  sixth  century.  Benedict 
was  a  native  of  Umbria,  in  Italy,  and  a  man  of  great 
gifts  as  an  organizer.  With  a  few  followers  he  founded 
the  monastery  of  Monte  Casino,  which  remained  for 
centuries  the  chief  centre  of  the  Benedictine  order. 
Then  he  established  several  other  monasteries  in  the 
neighborhood  and  gave  to  them  all  the  rule,  which  under 
the  name  of  the  Benedictine  Rule,  was  the  model  for 
all  future  attempts  of  the  sort.  This  rule  had  three 
chief  clauses.  The  monk  vowed  perpetual  poverty, 
chastity,  and  obedience.  By  the  vow  of  poverty  he 
denied  himself  all  property  of  his  own.  Whatever  he 
had  the  use  of  was  the  property  of  the  order,  not  of 
himself ;  the  very  pen  with  which  he  copied  his  pious 
books  was  not  his  own.  The  vow  of  chastity  bound 
him  never  to  marry,  and  thus  cut  him  off  forever  from 
all  the  ties  of  home  and  kindred.  It  was  the  belief  of 
the  time  that  all  these  worldly  ties  tended  to  draw  the 
thoughts  of  men  away  from  higher  things.  Instead  of 
trying  to  put  their  holiness  of  thought  into  the  life  of 
the  world  they  saw  no  way  but  to  withdraw  from  the 
world.  If  they  thought  of  the  rest  of  mankind  at  all, 
it  was  only  in  the  hope  that  their  example  might  serve 
to  bring  about  a  higher  standard  of  living.     The  vow 


138  THE  MONKS   OF  THE   WEST. 

of  obedience  to  the  abbot,  the  head  of  the  monastery, 
was  intended  still  further  to  impress  on  the  monk  his 
entire  sacrifice  of  self.  He  had  no  longer  any  will  of 
his  own,  but  was  to  be  subject  in  all  things  to  a  higher 

win. 

The  rule  of  Benedict  required  further  that  the  life 
p  .  .  should  be  spent  in  work.  "  To  work  is  to 
nature  of  pray,"  was  one  of  the  favorite  mottoes  of  the 
ene  ctmes.  or(ier>  Every  day  so  much  prayer  and  so 
much  work  with  the  hands.  "A  laboring  monk  is 
troubled  by  one  devil;  an  idle  monk,  by  a  host  of 
devils,"  said  Cassianus.  The  members  are  not  to  abuse 
their  bodies  for  the  sake  of  their  souls.  They  are  to 
wear  suitable  and  sufficient  clothing;  they  are  to  eat  a 
plenty  of  nourishing  food ;  they  are  not  to  fast  more 
than  they  can  bear.  The  sick  are  to  be  carefully  tended 
and  fed.  It  was  this  practical  character  of  the  Benedic- 
tine rule  wliicli  made  the  Western  system  so  different 
from  the  extravagant  and  fanatical  monasticism  of  the 
East.  The  spread  of  the  order  was  very  rapid.  Within 
a  century  from  the  time  of  Benedict  it  had  taken"~firm 
root  throughout  the  whole  of  Christian  Europe.  Almost 
from  the  first  it  had  commended  itself  to  women  as  well 
as  to  men,  and  many  nunneries,  under  the  protection 
of  powerful  families,  had  sprung  up  throughout  Italy 
and  Gaul.  Both  monasteries  and  nunneries  became  the 
retreat  for  many  a  troubled  soul  to  whom  the  trials  of 
this  world  seemed  more  than  it  could  bear,  and  who 
thought  to  escape  from  them  within  the  cloister  walls. 

From  the  very  first  these  monastic  organizations 
showed  their  value  for  the  Church.  For  one  thing,  the 
very  denial  of  self  gave  to  the  monk  a  sort  of  sacred 


THE  MONKS  OF   THE   WEST.  139 

character  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  made  many  an 
unruly  layman  look  up  to  him,  who  would 
have  had  little  respect  for  the  familiar  par-  lare„  JJJ u" 
ish  priest.     Men  have  always  admired  self-  "secular" 

clergy  i 

sacrifice  in  others,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
the  established  clergy,  priests,  and  lower  church  officers, 
found  their  influence  with  the  people  seriously  weak- 
ened by  the  presence  of  these  saintly  ascetics.  Com- 
plaints began  to  be  made,  but  the  holy  men  kept  their 
ground  and  gained  more.  Not  only  were  they  strong 
in  their  sacred  character  as  ascetics,  but  they  knew  how 
to  touch  the  life  of  the  people  at  many  points  where 
the  parish  clergy  failed  to  reach  it.  To  understand 
their  greatest  work,  we  must  remember  that  they  were 
living  among  peoples  who  were  passing  through  some 
of  the  earliest  stages  of  a  civilized  life.  The  Germanic 
races  had  never  lived  in  cities,  and  even  when  they 
came  in  upon  the  Roman  soil,  where  a  distinctly  city 
life  had  been  led,  they  did  not  at  once,  nor  for  many 
centuries,  change  their  habits.  The  whole  period  of 
this  book  is  essentially  a  period  of  agricultural  develop- 
ment. The  element  of  city  life  plays  but  a  small  part 
in  it. 

Now  perhaps  the  most  important  work  in  this  great 
development  of  the  states  of  northern  and  The  monks 
western  Europe  on  the  basis  of  a  revived  as  pioneers, 
agriculture,  was  to  be  done  by  the  monks  of  St.  Bene- 
dict. Just  as,  in  opening  up  the  wooded  portions  of 
our  western  country  to  civilization,  the  pioneer  settler 
with  his  family  chose  a  spot  for  his  house  near  a  spring 
of  water,  and  with  his  good  axe  cleared  away  the  virgin 
forest  until  he  had  laid  open  land  enough  for  his  use, 


140  THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST. 

and  then  was  never  satisfied,  but  kept  on  clearing  more 
and  more,  until  finally  the  forests  disappeared,  and  in 
their  places  stood  miles  upon  miles  of  waving  crops,  so 
was  it  with  these  pioneers  of  a  new  civilization  in  the 
forest  districts  of  Gaul  and  Germany,  England  and  Ire- 
land. They  got  their  land  chiefly  as  a  pious  offering 
by  some  king  or  prince,  of  that  which  was  of  little 
value  to  him,  which  perhaps  he  did  not  even  own  at  all 
by  any  title  that  would  seem  worth  much  to  us.  But 
once  in  the  hands  of  the  monastic  organization,  the 
land  seldom  slipped  away  again.  The  individual  land- 
owner died,  and  perhaps  there  was  no  one  to  succeed 
him,  or  a  neighbor  took  advantage  of  his  death  to 
pounce  upon  his  land;  but  the  ^corporation  never  died. 
It  was  always  getting,  and  never  losing.  Even  in  the 
midsf'bf  almost  continual  violence,  the  lands  of  the 
Church  were  generally  respected ;  the  favor  of  the 
good  fathers,  whose  prayers  the  lawless  baron  might 
need  at  any  moment  for  the  safety  of  his  soul,  was 
worth  a  little  self-restraint.  The  wildest  robber  of  all 
the  chiefs  might  be,  like  the  kings  of  the  Lombards,  a 
most  pious  gentleman. 

Then  again,  these  monasteries,  protected  by  the  favor 
of  the  great,  and  looked  up  to  bv  the  com- 

Themonas-  &  . 

teries  seats      mon  man  as  retreats  from  the  violence  of  the 

of  learning.       ^^   ^^     U)     be    centreg    of     light    in    ^ 

world  which  seemed  to  be  falling  into  barbarism. 
While  the  races  were  struggling  for  the  land,  and 
while  the  Germanic  peoples,  having  got  the  land, 
were  slowly  forming  a  new  system  of  governments  in 
which  force  was  the  only  means  of  control,  there  was 
no  need  of  learning.     The  Roman  had  lost  his  taste  for 


THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST.  141 

study,  and  the  German  had  not  yet  got  so  far  as  to 
have  tastes.  The  only  use  for  learning  was  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Church.  As  long  as  the  Roman  govern- 
ment had  lasted,  the  care  of  administering  its  vast 
machinery  had  called  for  a  certain  kind  of  learning, 
especially  for  learning  in  the  law.  But  when  the  gov- 
ernment of  all  the  Roman  lands  had  passed  into  the 
hands  of  peoples  who  had  no  great  system  of  written 
law,  but  who  governed  by  a  set  of  traditions  carried  in 
the  memory,  then  the  need  for  even  this  kind  of  learn- 
ing passed  away.  There  was  no  longer  any  scholarship 
but  such  as  the  Church  needed  for  its  worship.  The 
new  nations  had  no  written  languages,  and  therefore 
whenever  they  wished  to  express  themselves,  they  had 
to  borrow  the  language  of  the  conquered  Absence  of 
Romans.  The  chief  result  of  this  was,  that  literature. 
they  expressed  themselves  as  little  as  possible.  What 
we  might  call  an  original  impulse  to  literary  expression, 
the  sort  of  instinct  which  at  certain  times  leads  men  to 
write  or  to  sing  of  the  deeds  of  their  ancestors,  or  of  the 
beauties  of  nature,  or  of  the  charms  of  social  life,  or  of 
religion,  —  all  this  instinct  was  wanting  a^nojtig_the_ Ger- 
manic peoples  at  the  time  of  the  migration  and  settle- 
ment. And  during  the  same  time  the  impulse  to  origi- 
nal expression  among  the  Romans,  which  in  earlier 
times  had  produced  such  works  as  the  speeches  of 
Cicero,  the  histories  of  Csesar  and  Tacitus  and  Ammi- 
anus,  the  lofty  verse  of  Virgil,  the  grace  of  Horace, 
and  the  satire  of  Juvenal,  had  almost  entirely  died 
out.  Thus  for  several  centuries  the  nations  of  Europe 
offer  us  almost  a  blank  in  literary  production,  and  hence 
people  have  been  in  "the  habit  of  calliiig*these  times  the 


I 


142  THE  MONKS  OF   THE   WEST. 

"  Dark  Ages,"  and  turning  away  from  them  with  con- 
tempt, as  not  worth  their  while  to  study.  The  fact  is, 
that  men,  during  these  ages,  had  other  things  to  do 
than  to  write.  They  were,  all  unconsciously,  building 
up  a  new  foundation  on  which  a  future  culture  might 
rest.  The  old  culture  had  died  out  because  the  moral 
soundness  of  the  Roman  people  had  crumbled  away  be- 
neath it,  and  a  new  culture  could  not  arise  until  a  new 
and  sound  race  should  come  in  to  take  the  place  of  that 
ancient  and  corrupt  generation. 

This  was  the  mission  of  the  Germanic  race,  and  the 
The  monas-  persons  who  were  to  be  its  chief  agents  in  the 
tery  schools,  work  of  carrying  over  to  a  new  time  what  the 
old  had  left,  were  the  monks  of  St.  Benedict  in  their 
silent  cloisters,  scattered  all  over  the  West  and  South 
of  Europe,  wherever  Christian  government  had  been 
established.  From  a  very  early  date  we  find  the  rulers 
of  the  West  encouraging  the  monasteries  to  open 
schools  for  boys  in  connection  with  their  houses.  The 
same  might  be  said  also  of  the  bishoprics,  but  the 
greater  quiet  and  security  of  the  monasteries  seem  to 
have  made  them  especially  sought  out  by  those  who 
wished  their  children  to  be  trained  for  the  Church,  for 
this  was  the  only  aim  of  the  earliest  education  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  This  education  would  seem  to  us  now 
of  very  little  value.  The  boys  learned  first  and  last 
Latin,  the  language  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  only  lit- 
erature they  had.  They  learned  it,  not  only  to  read, 
but  to  write  and  speak  after  a  fashion,  and  then  all  the 
rest  of  their  learning  was  done  in  Latin.  One  thing 
they  knew  better  than  it  is  often  understood  in  our  day, 
and  that  is,  that  to  really  know  a  language  it  must  be 


THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST  143 

used  to  learn  other  things  with.  Their  first  course  was  ]1 
called  the  "  Trivium,"  and  included  grammar,  rhetoric,  * 
and  logic.  This  was  followed  by  the  "  Quadrivium," 
which  included  arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy,  and 
music.  The  first  group,  you  will  see,  were  the  sciences 
of  language ;  the  second,  those  of  nature.  This  sounds 
like  a  very  good  programme  of  studies,  but  h>  must  be 
remembered  that  the  teachers  themselves  knew  very 
little,  especially  about  the  science  of  nature.  What 
they  knew  and  taught  came  almost  wholly  out  of 
books,  and  it  was  to  be  many  centuries  before  men 
should  care  enough  about  the  study  of  nature  to  take 
hold  of  it  in  what  now  seems  the  only  proper  way,  by 
going  directly  to  natural  objects  themselves,  and  seeing 
what  these  have  to  tell  us.  The  chief  result  of  this 
education  was  to  train  the  mind  in  habits  of  close  think- 
ing ;  a  valuable  result  in  a  day  when  the  object  of  learn- 
ing was  not  so  much  to  discover  new  truth,  as  to  prove 
the  truth  of  what  men  had,  and  to  persuade  others  to 
accept  it.  After  the  "  Trivium  "  and  the  "  Quadri- 
vium "  the  boy  went  into  his  professional  study. 

For  the  purposes  of  teaching,  the  monksjoeeded  mod 
els  of  written  Latin,  and  these  were  best  to  -, 

Ine  monaster- 

be  found  in  the  works  of  the  classical,  hea-  ies  saved  an- 
then  authors.  There  was,  of  course,  a  large  cient  earnmS- 
Christian  literature,  also  written  in  Latin ;  but  there 
never  was  a  time  when  men  wholly  failed  to  understand 
that  these  Fathers  of  the  Church,  learned  and  ven- 
erable as  they  might  be,  did  not,  after  all,  handle  the 
Latin  tongue  with  the  skill  of  Cicero  or  Sallust.  To 
keep  up  the  supply  of  these  classic  authors,  new  copies 
had  to  be  made,  and  the  originals  had  to  be  studied,  to 


A 


144  THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST. 

keep  the  copies  as  correct  as  possible.  So  in  every 
well-appointed  monastery  the  library  and  the  writing- 
room  were  among  the  most  important  of  its  many 
departments;  and  there,  in  those  obscure  corners  of 
the  world,  the  best  that  we  have  to-day  of  the  writings 
of  antiquity  has  come  down  to  us.  In  the  terrible 
storms  of  mediaeval  war  the  monasteries  often  suffered 
like  other  homes  of  wealth  and  culture,  but  these  musty 
parchments  had  no  value  for  the  robber  knight,  or  for 
the  barbarian  Norman  or  Hungarian,  and  so  they  were 
left  undisturbed  when  everything  else  of  value  was  car- 
ried away  or  destroyed. 

These  are  some  of  the  blessings  which  Europe  owes 
Value  of  t°  the  monks  of  St.  Benedict.  They  opened 
monasteries.  Up  Vast  tracts  of  land  to  civilized  culture; 
they  helped  by  their  lives  of  self-denial  to  keep  in  the 
minds  of  men  a  standard  of  morals  somewhat  higher 
than  their  own ;  they  furnished  a  safe  retreat  where  the 
spark  of  learning,  beaten  out  by  tne  violence  of  the 
time,  might  find  a  quiet  corner  in  which  to  smoulder 
at  first,  and  then  to  flicker  up  slowly  and  feebly,  yet 
steadily,  into  a  brilliant  flame.  We  must  now  look  at 
some  of  the  dangers  of  this  same  institution. 

Men  went  into  the  monastery  at  first  to  find  peace 
Dangers  of  an0^  holiness  of  life,  but  we  may  well  doubt 
monasteries,  jf  they  often  succeeded.  A  man  is  generally 
the  worst  kind  of  company  for  himself,  and  so  from  the 
beginning  it  proved  with  the  monks.  Almost  as  soon 
as  we  find  records  of  the  self-devotion  and  wonderful 
piety  of  the  holy  men,  we  begin  also  to  hear  complaints 
of  the  evils  and  dangers  of  the  life  they  had  chosen. 
The  early  monks,  driven  out  of  the  world  by  a  fanati- 


THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST.  145 

cal  notion  of  duty,  seem  to  us  often  quite  as  much  like 
madmen  as  saints.  The  rule  of  Benedict  was  intended 
to  meet  this  evil  of  fanaticism  by  making  the  monk  at 
the  same  time  a  useful  member  of  society.  But  here 
again  he  was  met  by  new  dangers,  and  the  history  of 
the  order  is  one  long  series  of  backslidings  increase  in 
and  recoveries.  The  story  was  generally  wealth, 
something  like  this  :  Though  the  individual  monk  could 
hold  no  property,  he  had  what  was  just  as  good  for  all 
purposes,  a  share  in  the  use  of  the  monastery  property. 
The  lands  given  to  the  order,  often  of  little  value  at 
first,  came  to  be  through  its  efforts  of  very  great  value. 
Farmers  liked  to  live  on  these  lands  of  the  Church, 
because  the  burdens  were  generally  not  so  heavy  as  on 
the  lay  lands,  and  thus,  in  course  of  time,  the  monaster- 
ies found  themselves  owners  of  vast  tracts  of  fertile 
country  and  of  boundless  forests,  rich  in  game  and 
timber,  and  lords  also  of  a  great  population  of  pros- 
perous farmers,  whose  industry  came  almost  entirely  to 
the  profit  of  the  house. 

Further,  the  monasteries  began  from  a  very  early  day 
to  claim  what  was  called  "immunity";  that 
is,  freedom  from  the  control  of  any  power,  mmumyi 
either  that  of  the  bishop  or  of  the  government,  in  the 
care  of  their  own  affairs.  This  meant  that  the  abGot  of 
the  house  was  just  as  much  an  independent  sovereign 
in  his  little  world  as  the  baron  in  his ;  and  the  dread  of 
provoking  the  anger  of  heaven  was  generally  enough  to 
prevent  the  neighbors  from  questioning  these  rights. 
The  abbot  of  a  large  monastery  had  often  several  hun- 
dred fighting  men  at  his  command ;  he  was  a  judge  in 
cases  arising  between  his  own  people,  and  the  revenues 


146  THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST. 

from  the  farms  were  spent  under  his  direction.  That 
is  what  the  vow  of  poverty  came  to ;  not  a  penny  of 
personal  wealth,  but  the  daily  enjoyment  of  a  truly 
splendid  worldly  possession.  Then  the  next  steps  were 
taken ;  with  wealth  came  a  desire  for  the  things  that 
wealth  could  buy.  Magnificent  buildings,  provided 
with  every  comfort  of  life,  took  the  place  of  the  cold 
cell  which  the  ancient  hermit  had  been  proud  to  call 
his  only  shelter.  If  one  should  travel  in  England  to- 
day, he  would  see  the  ruins  of  these  buildings,  splendid 
even  yet,  and  he  would  understand  how  a  time  must 
have  come  when  men  would  no  longer  bear  this  misuse 
of  wealth,  that  had  been  given  for  the  service  #of  God, 
and  so  in  a  sort  of  wild  fury  tore  down  these  homes 
of  idleness  and  vice,  and  put  the  wealth  where  it  might 
be  of  use. 

Of  course  all  this  growth  in  wealth  and  power  was 
Mainz  and  anything  but  agreeable  to  the  authorities, 
Fnlda.  \>oth  of  Church  and  State,  under  which  the 

monastic  houses  were  supposed  to  stand.  The  bishop 
in  whose  diocese  the  monastery  lay,  felt  his  authority 
over  the  people  to  be  in  danger,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
valuable  revenue  which  went  to  the  monastery  instead 
of  coming  to  him.  Bishops  protested,  but  the  abbots 
showed  their  deeds  of  gift  and  their  grants  of  immunity,, 
and  the  bishop  had  to  be  content.  The  story  of  Fulda 
is  that  of  many  another  foundation.  Fulda  had  been 
founded  by  the  great  apostle  Boniface,  in  the  midst  of 
unbroken  forest,  on  the  little  river  of  the  same  name 
in  the  later  Hessen.  Boniface  had  placed  at  the  head 
of  Fulda  his  friend  and  follower  Sturm,  and  when  he 
himself  became  archbishop  of   Mainz,  he  had  kept  a 


THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST.  147 

certain  control  over  the  affairs  of  the  monastery.  But 
when  Boniface  was  dead,  his  first  successor,  Lullus, 
came  at  once  into  difficulties  with  the  old  abbot.  He 
maintained  that  the  monastery  was  in  his  diocese  and 
that  by  a  recent  law  of  the  kingdom  every  monastery 
must  be  under  the  direction  of  some  bishop.  Sturm  on 
the  other  hand  brought  out  a  deed  by  which  Pope  Zach- 
ary  had  declared  Fulda  to  be  independent  of  every  juris- 
diction except  that  of  the  papacy.  No  doubt  such  a 
grant  had  been  obtained,  and  that  through  the  agency  of 
Boniface,  who  at  the  time  was  not  yet  archbishop  of 
Mainz,  and  could  not  perhaps  have  foreseen  that  his 
action  would  thus  bring  two  of  the  most  important 
church  foundations  of  Germany  under  the  leadership 
of  two  of  his  own  best-beloved  pupils,  into  a  bitter 
conflict.  It  so  happened  that  Sturm  was  accused, 
rightly  or  wrongly,  of  having  aided  in  a  rebellion  of 
the  Duke  Tassilo  of  Bavaria  against  Pippin,  and  Lullus 
made  use  of  this  charge  to  ruin  the  abbot  in  the  mind 
of  the  king.  Sturm  was  driven  out  of  Fulda  by  the 
order  of  Pippin,  the  document  of  the  pope  was  declared 
of  no  account,  and  the  monastery  was  placed  under  the 
sovereignty  of  Mainz.  But  Lullus  did  not  long  enjoy 
his  victory;  the  pressure  was  too  strong.  After  a 
couple  of  years  Sturm  was  forgiven  and  restored, 
and  the  independence  of  Fulda  again  declared.  And 
the  same  thing  happened  in  many  other  places.  Over 
and  over  again  we  find  kings  and  princes  trying  to 
bring  their  monasteries  under  the  control  of  the  bishops 
of  their  countries,  but  never  with  much  success. 

If  now  you  consider  what  it  meant  for  the  govern- 
ment of  a  country  to  have  scattered  all  through  its  terri- 


148  THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST. 

tory  great  masses  of  land  which  might  just  as  well  not 
Dangers  to  have  belonged  to  it  for  all  the  good  they  were 
the  State.  to  it,  and  consider  further  that  in  all  these 
pieces  of  country  the  far-off  Roman  papacy  claimed  all 
the  rights  which  the  government  ought  to  have  had, 
you  will  see  why  the  monasteries  came  to  be  regarded 
as  the  most  dangerous  enemies  of  all  civil  government. 

We  see  here  another  proof  of  the  far-seeing  wisdom 
Value  to  the  0I"  the  Roman  papacy,  which  began  very 
papacy.  early  to  understand  that  in  these  innumera- 

ble monasteries,  with  their  thousands  of  devoted  inhabi- 
tants, it  had  the  most  trustworthy  agents  for  all  its 
plans.  Whether  it  found  itself  for  the  time  being  in 
conflict  with  the  State  or  with  the  Church  in  a  given 
country,  it  was  pretty  certain  to  find  in  the  monks  of 
that  country  a  great  army  of  unquestioning  soldiers 
ready  to  do  its  bidding. 

The  vow  of  poverty  was  thus  easily  evaded.  The 
Immorality  in  duty  of  labor  became  less  pressing  when  all 
monasteries,  the  lands  of  the  monastery  had  been  cleared, 
and  were  occupied  by  subject  peasants  who  did  the 
hard  work  of  the  fields  and  forests.  Idleness,  with  all 
its  train  of  ills,  came  into  the  monasteries  and  brought 
with  it  especially  a  danger  to  the  second  of  the  Bene- 
dictine vows.  The  instinct  of  nature,  by  which  men 
have  always  been  led  into  the  highest  and  holiest  of 
human  relations  as  husbands  and  fathers  of  families, 
would  not  be  kept  down,  and  many  accounts  show  us 
that  the  seats  of  learning  and  self-denial  had  become 
homes  of  ignorance  and  vice.  Then  would  come  a 
time  of  revival.  We  have  seen  how  large  a  part  of  the 
legislation  of  the  early  Franks  had  to  do  with  questions 


THE  MONKS  OF  THE   WEST.  149 

of  marriage,  both  among  the  clergy  and  the  laymen,  and 
at  the  same  time  efforts  were  made  to  bring  about  stricter 
views  of  the  monastic  life.  We  shall  meet  the  same 
thing  again  in  the  times  of  Charlemagne,  and  can  study 
it  there  perhaps  to  better  advantage. 

The  third  vow,  of  obedience  to  the  abbot,  gave  less 
trouble.     So  far  as  we  can  see,  the  abbot  was   0bedience 
not  likely  to  be  much  better  than  his  flock,  generally 
and  if  things  went  badly,  it  was  not  because  g0°  ' 
of  any  loss  of  his  authority  over  them.     Often,  however, 
the  process  of  reform  was  that  a  new  abbot  would  be 
placed  over  the  house ;  and  if  he  could  make  the  vow 
of  obedience  a  real  thing,  the  work  was  likely  to  be 
more  successful.     In  the  case  of  Sturm  of  Fulda,  a  new 
abbot  was  put  in  his  place ;  but  the  monks,  far  from 
being  willing  to  obey,  were  so  enraged  at  the  loss  of 
their   favorite,  that   they  straightway  turned   the  new 
man  out  and  waited  until  Sturm  was  restored  to  them. 

Our  final  judgment  of  the  Christian  monasticism  of 
the  West  would  be  this :  that  in  an  age  when  Final 
men  hoped  for  holiness  of  life  only  "through  the  judgment, 
sacrifice  of  all  their  natural  instincts,  the  order  of  St.  Bene- 
dict stood  between  the  brutality  of  the  masses  of  men  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  fanaticism  of  the  Eastern  monks 
on  the  other.  Such  insane  devotion  as  that  of  St.  Simeon 
Stylites,  who  stood  for  years  on  the  top  of  a  pillar  barely 
large  enough  for  him  to  turn  round  on,  was  almost 
unknown  to  the  West,  and  was  frowned  down  wherever 
it  appeared.  We  must  try  to  learn  to  judge  men  and 
institutions  by  the  use  they  had  in  the  clay  in  which 
thev  belonged,  not  by  the  use  they  might  have  for  us 

•I    linl,,iW,aM»<«^aniTBnit'-«iiiwniiwaiiaH»riw«ii»it  iiii'i>ii»iiiii»Niii»»iaiii  ■  niiiiaiiirniMMWr"""™""**"*-"" — 

in  these  better  times. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  FRANKS  FROM   CHARLES    MARTEL  TO  CHARLE- 
MAGNE. 

Authorities:  —  With  the  rise  of  the  Carolingian  house  the 
writing  of  history  begins  to  be  more  frequent  and  more  skilful. 
Even  the  three  unknown  persons  who  successively  continued  the 
chronicle  of  Fredegarius  down  to  the  year  752,  are  wholly  in  the 
Carolingian  interest,  and  mention  the  ruling  Merovingians  only  in 
a  formal  way. 

The  annals  now  begin  to  be  more  numerous  and  more  complete. 
The  two  most  important  are  known  to  scholars  as  the  Annates  Lau~ 
rissenses,  or  Annals  of  Lorsch  and  the  Annals  of  Einhard.  The 
former  are  named  from  the  monastery  where  the  oldest  manuscript 
was  found;  the  latter  have  been  given  the  name  of  Charlemagne's 
secretary,  because  of  a  certain  ancient  hint  that  Einhard  had  writ- 
ten annals  and  because  of  the  excellent  literary  style  of  this  work. 
Both  these  histories  are  now  believed  to  be  what  we  call  in  these 
days  "  inspired,"  that  is,  written  by  some  one  who  stood  very  near 
the  government  and  took  his  cue  from  it.  Perhaps  even  the  name 
"  royal  annals  "  is  not  too  strong  an  expression  of  the  official  char- 
acter of  these  writings.  Other  sources  are  the  lives  of  prominent 
men,  few  and  meagre,  yet  so  much  better  than  what  had  been 
written  before,  that  we  mark  in  them  a  distinct  literary  progress. 
The  most  famous  of  these  lives  is  that  of  Charlemagne,  by  his  sec- 
retary, Einhard.  It  is  written  in  fairly  good  Latin,  and  modelled 
on  the  lives  of  the  Roman  emperors  by  Suetonius. 

From  Einhard's  Life  of  Charlemagne:  — 

"  He  took  care  that  his  children,  both  boys  and  girls,  should  be 

educated  first  of  all  in  liberal  studies,  to  which  he  also 

gave  attention  himself.      Then,  when  his  sons  were 

of  the  proper  age,  he  had  them  learn  to  ride  in  the  manner  of 


M ARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  151 

the  Franks,  to  practise  at  arms  and  the  chase,  while  the  daughters 
learned  to  spin  wool,  to  use  the  distaff  and  spindle,  and  every  vir- 
tuous occupation,  that  they  might  not  become  spoiled  by  idleness. 

"  While  dining  he  listened  to  music  or  reading.  Histories  and 
the  deeds  of  the  ancients  were  read  to  him.  He  de- 
lighted in  the  works  of  St.  Augustine,  especially  in  his 
book  '  The  City  of  God.'  .  .  .  While  dressing  or  putting  on  his 
sandals,  he  not  only  admitted  his  friends ;  but  if  the  Count  Pal- 
atine reported  any  suit  which  could  not  be  settled  without  his 
decision,  he  would  order  the  parties  to  be  brought  in,  and,  as  if 
seated  on  the  bench  of  justice,  would  hear  the  case  and  give 
judgment. 

"  He  was  a  zealous  promoter  of  liberal  studies,  and  greatly  revered 
their  professors,  upon  whom  he  bestowed  the  highest 
honors.  He  learned  the  art  of  computation,  and  with 
great  application  and  skill  carefully  calculated  the  motions  of 
the  planets.  He  tried  also  to  learn  to  write,  and  used  even  to  put 
his  tablets  and  writing-books  under  his  pillow,  so  that  when  he 
should  have  leisure  he  might  accustom  his  hand  to  forming  the 
letters ;  but  in  this  task,  too  long  postponed  and  begun  too  late  in 
life,  he  had  but  little  success." 

But  besides  what  was  written  as  history  we  have  a  far  better 
source  of  information  in  the  laws  of  Charlemagne,  the  famous 
"  Capitularies."  These  were  mainly  laws  designed  to  meet 
cases  which  the  old  tribal  laws  of  the  Franks  would  not  cover. 
We  have  a  great  number  of  them,  touching  upon  every  phase  of 
public  life. 

Modern  Works:  —  H.  E.  Bonnell:  Die  Anfange  des  Karolingi- 
schen  Hauses.  Berlin,  1866.  —  Heinrich  Hahn  :  Jahrbiicher  des 
Frankischen  Reiches.  741-72.  —  L.  Oelsner:  Jahrbiicher  des 
Frankischen  Reiches  unter  Kbnig  Pippin.     1871. 

At  the  death  of  Charles  Martel  the  kingdom  of  the 
Franks  stood  well  defended  against  enemies  strength  of 
from  without,  and  fairly  strong  in  the  alle-  the  Franks, 
giance  of  all  its  various  parts.     The  heathen  Saxons 


152  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

and  Frisians  were  held  firmly  in  check.  The  Bavarians 
owned  a  duty  of  allegiance,  though  still  retaining  their 
own  government  under  hereditary  and  independent 
dukes.  Much  the  same  state  of  things  existed  in  Aqui- 
taine,  which,  although  nominally  conquered  as  far  back 
as  the  time  of  Clovis,  had  never  become  an  integral 
part  of  the  kingdom.  The  Arabs,  by  no  means  con- 
quered forever  at  Tours,  had  returned  again  and 
again,  but  had  always  been  held  within  the  region  of 
the  lower  Pyrenees,  and  might  now  be  regarded  as  no 
longer  dangerous  to  the  kingdom  as  a  whole. 

How  firm  the  hold  of  the  "  Hammer  "  was  upon  his 
Division  of  fellow-nobles  is  best  shown  by  the  fact  that 
i*1,  before  his  death  he  was  able  to  secure  the 

peaceful  succession  of  his  two  elder  sons,  Karlmann  and 
Pippin,  to  his  office  of  major  domus.  The  principle  of 
inheritance  of  all  possessions,  of  office  as  well  as  prop- 
erty, was  beginning  to  make  itself  felt.  The  only  oppo- 
sition to  this  succession  came  from  another  still  younger 
son,  Gripho,  the  child  of  a  second  wife,  and  whoever 
was  hostile  to  the  two  elder  brothers  found  in  the 
revolt  of  Gripho  a  chance  to  make  his  opposition  felt. 
This  slight  obstacle  was  easily  put  aside,  and  the  gov- 
ernment passed  into  the  hands  of  the  brothers.  Karl- 
mann took  the  cares  of  office  in  Austrasia,  Thuringia, 
and  Swabia;  and  Pippin,  in  Neustria  and  Burgundy. 
The  first  step  was  one  which  shows  the  talent  for  mod- 
eration, which  was  the  most  striking  trait  of  their 
house.  They  hunted  up  a  member  of  the  Merovingian 
The  last  family  and  had  him  acknowledged  in  all 
Merovingian,  form  by  the  nobility  of  the  realm  as  the  law- 
ful king.     Probably  they  hoped  in  this  way  to  quiet  any 


M ARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  153 

anxiety  lest  they  might  themselves  be  ambitious  for 
royal  honors.  There  is  a  certain  pathos  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  life  led  by  this  "  royal  scarecrow,"  given  by 
Einhard :  — 

"Nothing  was  left  to  the  king  but  to  sit  on  the 
throne,  with  his  long  hair  and  beard,  listening  to  the 
ambassadors,  who  came  from  all  directions,  and  giving 
them  the  answers  that  had  been  taught  him,  as  if  of  his 
own  sovereign  will.  In  fact,  however,  he  had  nothing 
but  the  royal  name  and  a  beggarly  income  at  the  will 
of  the  major  domus,  together  with  a  moderate  estate 
on  which  he  lived,  and  from  which  he  drew  the  few 
servants  who  supplied  his  wants.  When  he  travelled 
he  was  carried  upon  an  ox-cart  with  a  peasant  driver. 
In  this  fashion  he  came  to  the  palace,  and  to  the"  yearly 
assembly  of  the  people,  and  returned  in  the  same  style 
to  his  house." 

Of  the  deeds  or  words  of  this  poor  Childerich  we 
have  not  a  word  in  the  records  of  the  time.  The  his- 
tories mention  his  elevation,  and,  later  on,  his  deposi- 
tion, and  that  is  all. 

Meanwhile  the  Carolingian  brothers  went  on  exactly 
as  their  father  had  done,  only  that  now  the  The  great 
documents  are  signed  in  the  king's  name,  assemblies. 
We  must  notice  especially  how  in  all  public  affairs  the 
government  of  the  State  and  of  the  Church  go  on  together. 
In  fact,  the  Church  is  distinctly  regarded  as  a  public 
institution  and  its  officers  as  the  subjects  of  the  State. 
It  is  of  great  importance  to  keep  this  in  mind  for- the 
future.  Our  best  way  to  understand  the  progress  of 
events  will  be  to  look  at  the  doings  of  the  great  assem- 
blies of  the  nobility  and  clergy  which  we  find  called 


154  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

diets  or  councils  according  as  reference  is  made  to  the 
political  or  the  religious  matters  treated  there.  These 
meetings  were  called  by  the  king ;  they  were  attended 
by  laymen  and  clergymen  together,  and  their  decrees 
were  given  force  by  being  sent  out  in  the  king's  name. 

The  first  of  these  meetings  was  held  in  Kallmann's 
Church  country,  and  was  attended   mainly   by   the 

discipline.  nobles  and  bishops  of  Germany.  At  their  head 
appears  Boniface,  and  we  need  have  little  doubt  that  the 
whole  tone  of  the  meeting  was  given  by  him.  Above 
all  things  we  find  the  clergy  called  upon  to  reform 
itself.  All  records  of  the  Merovingian  period  agree  in 
showing  the  Frankish  clergy  in  a  most  corrupt  and 
degraded  condition.  What  the  evils  of  their  life  were 
we  learn  from  this  assembly.  They  are  forbidden  to 
carry  weapons,  to  fight,  even  to  go  to  war  with  their 
fighting  men,  excepting  such  of  them  as  were  necessary 
for  the  service  of  religion.  Hunting,  hawking,  keeping 
of  hounds,  are  declared  unbecoming  to  the  clergyman. 
Priests  and  deacons  shall  put  off  the  dress  of  the  layman 
and  don  the  gown  of  the  monk.  Violation  of  these 
rules  shall  be  severely  punished,  by  flogging  and  long 
imprisonment.  In  order  to  enforce  this  discipline,  the 
various  steps  of  authority  in  the  Church  are  carefully 
defined.  At  the  head  stands,  not  the  pope,  be  it  remem- 
bered, but  the  government.  The  "Prince,"  as  Kall- 
mann is  now  regularly  called,  appoints  the  bishops  and 
makes  Boniface  archbishop  over  them.  They  are  re- 
sponsible to  him.  So  in  turn  are  the  priests  and  deacons 
responsible  to  the  bishops.  We  see  in  all  these  measures 
the  effort  on  the  part  of  the  new  rulers  to  found  the 
Frankish  state  anew  on  the  basis  of  a  strict  moral  disci- 


MARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  155 

pline  in  the  Church  as  a  model  to  the  laymen  of  the 
nation. 

Still  more  curious  are  the  measures  to  suppress  the 
practice  of  heathen  rites  in  this  Christian  „  r  . 
state.  A  great  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  of  heathen 
Austrasia  were  but  fresh  Christians  at  the  es' 
best,  and  many  a  practice  hallowed  to  them  by  long  asso- 
ciation was  continued  under  some  new  form,  after  they 
had  formally  given  up  their  ancient  belief.  We  find 
mentioned  at  this  assembly  a  list  of  some  thirty  such 
evil  practices,  human  sacrifices,  fortune-telling,  amulets, 
oracles  from  the  flight  of  birds,  and  other  rites,  all  called 
together,  "  works  of  the  devil."  A  formula  of  renun- 
ciation of  all  such  practices  was  prepared  for  the  use  of 
the  clergy,  in  the  common  language,  and  has  come  down 
to  us,  almost  the  first  bit  of  writing  in  the  language 
which  afterward  came  to  be  called  the  German.1  It 
was  proposed  to  hold  similar  meetings  every  year,  but 
the  plan  was  probably  not  carried  out.  How  hard  it 
was  to  do  away  with  any  of  the  evils  here  attacked  is 

1  Q.   Forsachistu  diobolae  ?  Q.   Forsakest  thou  the  devil  ? 

A.   ec  forsacho  diobolae.  A.   I  forsake  the  devil. 

Q.   end  allum  diobol  gelde  ?  Q.   And  all  the  devil's  service  1 

A.   end  ec  forsacho  allum  dio-  A.   And  I  forsake  all  the  devil's 

bol  geldae.  service. 

Q.   end    allum    dioboles    uuer-  Q.   And  all  the  devil's  works  ? 
cum? 

A.  end  ec  forsacho  allum  dio-  A.   And  I  forsake  all  the  devil's 

boles     uuercum     and     uuordum.  works  and  words.     Thor  and  Odin 

thunaer  ende  uuoden  ende  saxnote  and  Saxnot  and  all  the  evil  spirits 

ende  allem  them   unholdum   the  that  are  their  companions, 
hira  genotas  sint. 

Thus  far  goes  the  renunciation.  Then  follows  the  positive  confes- 
sion :  — 


156  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

shown  by  the  constant  repetition  of  the  same  efforts 
whenever  the  leading  men  of  the  State  came  together 
for  deliberation.  It  is  clear  that  there  were  always 
some  who  were  trying  to  lift  the  morals,  and  with  them 
the  whole  life  of  the  people,  up  to  a  higher  ideal,  while 
the  old  warlike,  independent  instinct  of  a  savage  race 
was  constantly  resisting  such  effort. 

Two  years  later  we  have  the  report  of  a  similar  meet- 
R  r  ti  n  *n£  m  Neustria,  at  which  Pippin  appears  as 
of  Church  distinctly  at  the  head  of  affairs  as  did  Karl- 
property.  mann  in  Austrasia.  The  acts  of  this  assembly 
seemed  to  be  modelled  directly  upon  those  of  the  earlier 
one,  so  that  we  need  notice  only  one  point.  The 
Church  had  never  forgiven  Charles  Martel  for  his  use 
of  its  property  in  the  public  service ;  and  now  that  the 
government  was  in  the  hands  of  men  well-known  for 

Q.   Gelobistu  m   got  alamehti-  Q.  Believest  thou  in  God  the 

gan  fadaer  ?  almighty  Father? 

A.   ec  gefobo  in  got  alamehti-  A.   I  believe    in    God    the  al- 

gan  fadaer.  mighty  Father. 

Q.  Gelobistu  in  crist  godes  su-  Q.  Believest  thou  in  Christ  the 

no  ?  Son  of  God  ? 

A.  ec  gelobo  in  crist  godes  suno.  A.   I  believe  in  Christ  the  Son 

of  God. 

Q.   Gelobistu  in  halogan  gast  ?  Q.  Believest  thou  in  the  Holy 

Ghost? 

A.   ec  gelobo  in  halogan  gast.  A.   I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  interest  of  this  document  is  in  the  suggestion  it  contains  that 
accepting  Christianity  was  to  the  German  very  much  like  the  changing 
of  allegiance  from  one  political  sovereign  to  another.  He  gave  up 
Thor  and  Woden  (Odin)  and  Saxnot,  and  in  their  place  took  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  gives  us  also  a  curious  sug- 
gestion as  to  the  idea,  common  to  Christians  as  well  as  heathen,  that 
the  gods  of  the  latter  were  realities,  only  that  to  the  Christian  they 
were  evil  realities  to  be  avoided  and  dreaded  as  evil  spirits  (unholde). 


MARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  157 

their  devotion  to  religion,  it  saw  its  chance  to  recover. 
At  this  Neustrian  assembly,  it  is  ordered  that  the  goods 
taken  from  the  Church  shall  be  used  partly  to  support 
the  "  servants  and  the  maids  of  God " ;  that  is,  the 
priests,  monks,  and  nuns.  The  estates  themselves  seem 
to  have  been  too  firmly  in  the  hands  of  their  new  own- 
ers for  any  thought  of  restoration,  but  they  might  still 
be  made  to  pay  for  the  service  of  religion. 

In  the  following  year  a  still  more  imposing  assembly 
was  held  at  Lestines,  in  Austrasia,  at  which  Assembly  at 
Boniface  presided  in  person,  and  which  was  destines,  744, 
attended  by  clergymen  and  nobles  from  both  parts  of 
the  kingdom.  The  former  decrees  were  enforced,  Bon- 
iface was  placed  more  distinctly  than  ever  at  the  head 
of  the  Frankish  clergy,  and  the  alliance  of  Church  and 
State  was  cblnplefeoT.  Tncleed,  we  are  tempted  to  think 
that  the  Church  was  a  too  dangerous  rival  Abdication  of 

of    tlifPState,  wh^^W^^e^'rtWtryfeaffsTater,    Karlmann. 

Karlmann,  the  elder  brother,  voluntarily  laying  down 
his  office  and  entering  a  monastery.  There  seems  te 
have  been  no  reason  whatever  for  this  step  except  an 
honest  desire  to  lead  the  higher  life.  It  was  of  great 
importance,  by  bringing  this  Carolingian  prince  into 
close  relations  with  the  papacy.  Karlmann  went  at 
once  to  Italy  and  founded  a  monastery  in  the  neighbor' 
hood  of  Rome ;  but  finding  himself  too  much  disturbed 
there  by  visitors  from  home,  he  finally  betook  himself 
to  the  famous  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino,  whence  we 
shall  see  him  later  emerging  to  take  part  in  the  deal- 
ings between  Rome  and  the  Franks.  His  children,  with 
their  rights  of  succession,  seem  to  have  been  committed 
to  the  care  of  Pippin;  but  they  are  scarcely  heard  of 


158  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

again,  and  Pippin  appears  from  this  time  as  the  sole 
Pippin  sole  manager  of  the  Frankish  government.  Karl- 
major  domus.  mann  was  not  the  only  prince  of  his  time  who 
changed  the  splendors  of  a  throne  for  the  quiet  of  the 
cloister ;  but  generally  there  was  some  evident  reason 
for  disgust  with  the  world ;  in  his  case  there  seemed  to 
be  everything  to  keep  him  in  the  world,  and  his  resig- 
nation is  to  be  taken  as  a  singular  proof  of  the  hold 
which  the  life  of  the  Church  had  taken  upon  the  imagi- 
nation of  his  time. 

These  Frankish  assemblies  were  far  from  being  mere 
Revolt  in  Church  councils.  At  each  of  them  measures 
Aqnitaine.  were  discussed  by  which  the  great  aim  of  the 
Carolingian  rulers,  the  union  of  the  German  races  under 
Frankish  rule,  might  be  furthered.  In  spite  of  the 
great  successes  of  Martel,  the_  tributary  peoples,  still 
under  native  "dukes,"  were  inclined  to  assert  their 
independence  whenever  they  saw  their  opportunity. 
Of  course  such  national  movements  appear  in  the 
Frankish  records  —  the  only  ones  we  have  —  as  rebel- 
lion ;  but  we  must  learn  to  read  between  the  lines  of 
such  reports,  and  to  see  that  these  subject  territories 
had  also  a  right  on  their  side.  Especially  was  this  the 
case  in  Aquitaine,  where  the  population  was  largely  of 
Romanic  origin,  separated  from  the  Frankish  conquer- 
ors by  both  tradition  and  interest.  A  native  duke, 
Hunold,  had  gathered  the  patriotic  elements  of  the 
province  about  him,  and  took  advantage  of  the  death 
of  Martel  to  make  hostile  movements  against  the 
Franks.  The  two  brothers  joined  forces  against  him, 
but  seem  to  have  recovered  authority  over  only  a  small 
part  of  the  Aquitanian  territory. 


M ARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  159 

In  Alemannia,  or  Swabia,  as  it  is  now  beginning  to 
be  called,  there  was  also  an  independent 
"duke,"  who  was  a  constant  annoyance  to 
the  brothers,  until,  after  several  campaigns,  he  was  en- 
tirely defeated,  and  Swabia  made  a  part  of  the  Frank- 
ish  kingdom.  Most  dangerous  of  all  was 
Bavaria,  which  was  under  the  leadership  of 
a  well-recognized  ducal  family,  and  only  subject  to 
Frankish  control  as  long  as  an  army  was  in  the  field. 
The  duke  Odilo  had  married  a  sister  of  Pippin  and 
Karlmann,  but  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  forming 
a  combination  with  Aquitania,  Swabia,  and  even  with 
the  Saxons,  and  far-off  Slavonic  enemies,  against  the 
Franks.  A  legate  of  the  pope  at  that  time  in  Bavaria 
was  induced  to  throw  his  influence  against  the  Frank- 
ish princes,  whom  the  pope  himself  was  treating  with 
every  mark  of  favor.  One  brilliant  campaign  in  the 
marshes  of  the  river  Lech  decided  the  war,  and  brought 
Bavaria  again  under  the  nominal  control  of  the  Franks, 
though  the  duke  Odilo  seems  to  have  been  reinstated 
in  his  power.  As  for  the  papal  legate,  we  have  a  curi- 
ous little  speech  of  Pippin  to  him,  which  is  a  true  echo 
of  the  times :  -  - 

"  Now,  then,  my  lord  Sergius,  we  see  plainly  that  you 
are  no  messenger  of  St.  Peter.  You  told  us  yesterday, 
before  the  battle,  that  your  apostolic  master,  by  his  own 
authority,  and  that  of  the  blessed  Peter,  had  forbidden 
us  to  claim  our  rights  against  the  Bavarians ;  and  we 
told  you  that  neither  the  blessed  Peter  nor  your  apos- 
tolic master  had  given  you  any  such  commission.  And 
you  can  see,  that  if  the  blessed  Peter  had  known  that 
we  were  not  in  the  right,  he  would  not  have  stood  by 


160  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

us  in  this  battle ;  but  now  rest  assured,  that  through 
the  aid  of  the  blessed  Peter,  prince  of  the  apostles,  and 
through  the  judgment  of  God,  to  which  we  have  not 
hesitated  to  commit  ourselves,  the  Bavarians  and  their 
land  belong  to  the  Franks." 

The  divine  commission  of  the  Franks  to  the  headship 
of  the  West  could  not  be  more  clearly  expressed. 

Thus  far  we  have  seen  that  the  Frankish  rulers  had 
Restrictions  ^one  nothing  which  could  give  to  the  popes 
upon  mar-  any  claim  of  authority  over  the  national 
Frankish  Church.  But  there  seem  to  have 
been  many  questions  of  "doctrine  and  practice  on  which 
Pippin  did  not  feel  himself  quite  secure,  and  he  applies 
to  the  pope  for  information  on  these  points.  The 
answer  of  the  pope  has  come  down  to  us.  It  Js  of 
interest  as  showing  the  gradual  increase  in  the  control 
of  the  Church  over  the  affairs  of  daily  life,  and  as  pav- 
ing the  way  for  that  entire  subjection  of  all  human  con- 
cerns to  the  papal  will,  which  was  to  be  the  groundwork 
of  mediaeval  society.  As  the  family  is  the  basis  of 
social  life,  the  papacy  aimed  its  chief  efforts  in  social 
reform  at  what  it  called  the  purification  of  the  marriage 
relation.  Its  first  great  principle  was  that  no  clergy- 
man should  be  married,  and  then  it  tried  to  make  mar- 
riage for  the  layman  as  difficult  as  possible.  This  it 
hoped  to  accomplish  by  restricting  the  degrees  of  rela- 
tionship within  which  it  should  be  lawful  for  a  man  to 
marry.  In  the  letter  to  Pippin  the  pope  forbids  mar- 
riage between  any  persons  who  have  any  consciousness 
of  relationship,  however  remote.  This  was  afterward 
made  more  definite,  and  gradually  extended  until  it  was 
forbidden  to  marry  within  the  first  seven,  or,  according 


MARTEL   TO   CHARLEMAGNE.  161 

to  our  reckoning,  the  first  four,  degrees  of  relationship. 
Here  we  find,  perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  the  West, 
the  prohibition  of  marriage  between  what  were  called 
"spiritual  relatives,"  that  is,  between  god-parents  and 
god-children.  Such  laws  might  have  a  good  effect  in  a 
time  of  unbridled  passions,  and  may  have  done  far  more 
than  we  know  to  strengthen  the  purity  of  domestic  life. 
That  there  was  need  enough  of  such  effort  is  clear  from 
every  account  of  the  morals  of  the  leading  men  in  the 
Frankish  kingdom. 

Our  special  interest  in  these  regulations  is,  that  they 
come  from  Rome,  were  given  at  the  request  ni 

7   ............. °  x  Close  connec- 

of  the  leader  of  the  Franks,  and  thus  knit  tionwith 
more  firmly  together  these  two  rising  powers  ome' 
of  the  new  Christian  world.  The  pope  urges  the  prince 
to  sit  in  judgment  with  the  bishops  of  the  kingdom 
upon  those  who  defy  the  authority  of  the  Church,  and 
if  these  still  continue  obstinate,  to  send  them  under 
careful  guard  to  Rome,  where  he  will  himself  decide 
the  case.  The  pope  thus  declares  himself  to  be  the 
final*  judge  in  all  church  offences.  At  the  first  synod 
held  after  the  abdication  of  Karlmann,  the  close  alliance 
of  the  papacy  with  the  Frankish  Church  is  more  dis- 
tinctly expressed  than  ever  before.  The  pope  is  there 
clearly  recognized  as  the  head  of  the  whole  Church,  the 
archbishops  are  to  receive  their  confirmation  from  him, 
and  he  is  to  be  the  last  authority  in  cases  of  doubt.  At 
the  same  time  it  is  clear  that  there  was  a  large  party 
which  saw  this  growing  intimacy  with  alarm,  and  was 
doing  what  it  could  to  make  things  uncomfortable  for 
Boniface  and  the  papal  party.  It  is  worth  noticing, 
that   Boniface  is  now  made   definitely   archbishop   of 


162  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

Mainz,  and  thus  brought  into  a  closer  connection  with 
the  eastern  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Mainz  continues  for 
many  centuries  to  be  the  chief  episcopal  seat  of  Ger- 
many 

We  have  now  come  to  the  point  where  the  two 
Pi  in  kin  courses  of  history  we  have  been  following  — 
of  the  Franks,  the  growing  danger  of  the  papacy  in  Italy 
752.  and  the  increasing  power  of  the  Carolingians 
in  the  north  —  were  to  join  in  one  great  stream  and  bring 
about  a  momentous  alliance.  With  the  sanction  of  the 
papacy  Pippin  is  crowned  king  of  the  Franks.  We 
have  seen  by  what  slow  and  cautious  steps  this  great 
change  was  prepared.  A  hundred  years  before,  a  Caro- 
lingian,  Grimoald,  had  dared  to  call  his  son  king  and 
had  suffered  for  it.  Charles  Martel  had  preferred  the 
substance  of  power  to  the  name,  and  yet  he  had  not 
thought  it  worth  while  to  fill  the  vacant  throne.  His  sons 
had  done  this,  it  is  true,  but  there  had  been  not  even  a 
pretence  that  the  royal  puppet  was  a  real  flesh-and- 
blood  king,  and  now  the  time  had  come  when  the  name 
and  the  thing  were  to  be  united.  In  fact,  so  slight  was 
the  apparent  change  that  the  writers  of  the  time  did 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  go  into  the  matter  at  all, 
but  only  say  this :  that  Pippin  sent  a  distinguished 
ambassador  to  the  pope  to  ask  him  "with  regard  to 
the  kings  of  the  Franks,  who  at  that  time  did  not  have 
the  royal  power,  whether  this  was  a  good  state  of 
things."  And  the  answer  was :  "  It  seems  better  that 
he  who  has  the  power  in  the  state  should  be  and  be 
called  king  rather  than  he  who  is  falsely  called  the 
king." 

That  is  the  whole  story.     Later  writers  have  dressed 


M ARTEL   TO   CHARLEMAGNE.  163 

it  up  so  that  it  looks  as  if  the  pope  had  by  an  act  of 
authority  created  the  kingdom  of  the  Caro-  Desperate 
lingians  and  thus  gained  a  certain  right  of  straits  of 
sovereignty  over  them ;  but  all  we  really  know 
about  it  is  what  we  have  just  said.  Pippin  wanted  the 
name  of  king,  and  thought  it  would  seem  less  like  a 
clear  usurpation  and  make  less  trouble  for  his  successors 
if  he  should  get  the  pope  to  sanction  his  act.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  condition  of  the  papacy  in  Italy  frad  be- 
come positively  desperate.  Pope  Gregory  III.  had  died 
in  the  same  year  with  Charles  Martel.  He  had  made 
his  relations  with  the  Lombard  king  Liutprand  still 
more  intolerable  by  aiding  the  rebel  duke  of  Spoleto 
against  the  king,  and  one  of  the  earliest  acts  of  his 
successor  Zacharias  was  to  give  up  all  connection  with 
this  rebel.  Liutprand  was  one  of  those  singular  com- 
pounds of  boldness,  ferocity,  and  piety  which  marked 
the  age  we  are  studying.  He  made  it  clear  that  noth- 
ing would  satisfy  him  but  the  complete  conquest  of  the 
remnants  of  imperial  power  in  Italy,  after  which  the 
entire  ruin  of  the  papal  sovereignty  over  its  territory 
was  only  a  question  of  time. 

Liutprand  was  already  prepared  to  attack  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Exarchate  when  the  pope  deter-  The  Exarchate 
mined  to  try  the  effect  of  a  personal  interview.  ^  danger. 
In  all  the  splendor  of  his  great  office  he  went  to  meet  the 
Lombard  king  just  over  the  border.  If  we  may  believe 
the  biographer  of  Zacharias,  his  entreaties,  enforced  by 
the  threat  of  eternal  punishment,  were  too  much  for  the 
fierce  soldier.  He  promised  everything ;  but  hardly  had 
the  pope  turned  his  back,  when  the  Lombard's  land- 
hunger  began  to  get  the  better  of  his  piety.     He  did 


164  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

keep  his  promise  so  far  that  he  respected  the  lands  of 
the  Church,  but  the  expedition  into  the  Exarchate  he 
could  not  give  up.  His  army  was  soon  before  the  very 
gates  of  Ravenna.  The  Exarch,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
find  support  and  defence  for  the  pope,  was  now  glad  to 
beg  that  Zacharias  would  once  more  try  his  powers  of 
persuasion  and  save  him  from  the  threatening  danger. 
Again,  with  undaunted  courage,  and  attended  on  his 
way  by  constant  signs  of  divine  favor,  the  venerable 
bishop  sought  the  Lombard  camp,  and  again  his  mission 
was  successful.  A  truce  of  five  years  with  the  Exar- 
chate, and  of  twenty  with  the  papacy,  was  the  fruit  of 
these  efforts. 

Within  a  year  Liutprand  died.  His  .successor,  Ra- 
Lombardsin  cmsi  oniy  waited  for  the  truce  with  the 
the  Exarchate,  empire  to  end  before  pouring  an  army  into 
the  Exarchate  and  laying  regular  siege  to  Ravenna. 
A  third  time  the  pope  went  in  person  to  the  hostile 
camp,  and  there,  we  know  not  by  what  arguments,  so 
worked  upon  the  mind  of  the  king  that  he  not  only 
gave  up  the  siege  of  Ravenna,  but  of  his  own  accord 
Abdication  of  laid  down  his  sceptre  and  consecrated  him- 
Rachis.  seif  to  the  life  of  a  monk.     In  the  monastery 

of  Monte  Cassino,  which  he  now  entered,  he  found  his 
noble  brother,  Karlmann,  the  son  of  Martel.  We  can 
only  hope  to  understand  the  age  by  trying  to  see  the 
meaning  of  these  strange  contradictions. 

It  was  in  the  very  midst  of  these  troubles  that  the 
Papacy  turns  famous  embassy  of  Pippin  came  to  Rome  and 
to  Pippin.  laid  before  the  pope  the  momentous  question 
on  which  the  future  of  the  Carolingian  house  might  de- 
pend.    The  pope  could  not  hesitate.     Liutprand  had 


M ARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  165 

been  held  in  check;  Rachis  had  been  subdued ;  but  a  new 
king  might  at  any  moment  arise,  to  whom  the  promises 
of  his  predecessors  would  have  no  value.  And  here, 
ready  to  his  hand,  was  the  opening  for  an  alliance  which 
might  be  worth  more  to  him  than  any  truce  wTith  the 
faithless  Lombard,  or  any  hope  from  the  distant  and 
indifferent  court  of  •  Constantinople.  So  the  answer 
was  sent,  as  we  have  seen  already,  and  the  pope  might 
well  feel  that  he  had  created  the  new  royal  power 
which  was  henceforth  to  govern  the  nation  of  the 
Franks. 

The  wisdom  of  the  papal  answer  was  soon  to  be 
proved.  It  had  hardly  been  given  when  the  pope  Stephen 
new  Lombard  king,  Aistulf,  who,  by  the  way,  **  Gau1, 
had  done  more  in  the  way  of  promises  than  any  of  the 
rest,  entered  the  Exarchate  and  took  Ravenna.  The 
Pope  Stephen  —  Zacharias  was  now  dead  —  sent  ambas- 
sadors to  protest;  but  the  king's  only  answer  was  to 
march  straight  for  Rome,  and  lay  siege  to  the  Eternal 
City.  Stephen  saw  but  one  way  out  of  his  distress,  — to 
go  up  into  Gaul  and  claim  from  Pippin  the  reward  for 
the  favor  which  Zacharias  had  done  him.  A  formal 
invitation  already  sent  by  Pippin  confirmed  his  inten- 
tion. Under  the  protection  of  the  Frankish  legate  he 
passed  through  the  Lombard  territory  to  Pavia,  where 
Aistulf  received  him  with  respect,  and  did  not  try  to 
prevent  him  by  force  from  going  on  his  way.  The 
mission  of  Stephen  in  Gaul  was  entirely  successful. 
According  to  the  papal  account,  the  king  came  out  to 
meet  him,  and  with  all  his  court  threw  himself  at  the 
feet  of  the  pontiff,  then,  rising,  walked  by  the  side  of 
the  pope's  horse.     The  Frankish  writers  say,  however, 


166  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

that  the  pope  did  the  prostrating  and  refused  to  rise 
from  the  ground  until  Pippin  had  promised  to  give  him 
his  aid  against  the  Lombards.  Probably  both  stories  are 
the  work  of  a  later  time ;  they  are  worth  our  interest 
as  showing  the  two  ideas  of  the  bargain  thus  made. 
We  shall  see  by  and  by  why  this  was  an  important 
question. 

Stephen  spent  the  winter  in  Gaul.  He  consecrated 
Karlmann's  anew  both  Pippin  and  his  two  sons,  Karl 
mission.  anc[  Karlmann,  as  kings  of  the  Franks.     One 

singular  incident  of  this  visit  we  must  notice.  The 
elder  Karlmann,  whom  we  left  as  a  monk  in  Monte 
Cassino,  suddenly  appears  at  the  Frankish  court  and 
urges  his  brother  the  king  not  to  listen  to  the  demands 
of  Stephen.  It  was  said  that  the  abbot  of  Monte 
Cassino,  whose  territory  was  greatly  exposed  to  the 
Lombard  attacks,  had  given  his  monk  positive  orders  to 
try  and  persuade  his  royal  brother  not  to  offend  the 
Lombard  king  by  listening  to  the  complaint  of  the  pope, 
and  that  the  monk  had  not  dared  to  break  his  vow  of 
obedience.  Of  course  his  mission  was  a  failure.  He 
was  treated  with  open  contempt,  and  imprisoned  in  a 
monastery  at  Vienne,  where  he  soon  died. 

The  pope  and  Pippin  returned  to  Italy  together. 
..  .  ..    .       While  the  former  had  been  in  Gaul,  Aistulf 

Aistuii  raises  I  . 

the  siege  of  had  been  pressing  the  siege  of  Rome.  He 
wanted  the  city ;  but  failing  to  get  that,  he 
was  glad  enough  to  dig  up  as  many  bodies  of  saints  as 
he  could  and  carry  them  off  to  Lombardy,  where  they 
were  the  most  precious  kind  of  property ;  another  singu- 
lar instance  of  piety  combined  with  a  bitter  hostility  to 
the  papacy.     Putting  this  with  the  action  of  Liutprand 


M ARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  167 

and  Rachis  together,  we  may  say  that  the  Lombards 
were  at  this  time  inclined  to  show  every  respect  for  the 
person  and  the  spiritual  office  of  the  popes,  but  did  not 
see  that  this  obliged  them  to  have  any  respect  whatever 
for  the  papal  lands.  What  was  threatened  by  the  Lom- 
bard kings  of  the  eighth  century  has  been  actually 
carried  out  by  a  king  of  Lombardy  in  the  nineteenth. 
It  is  no  mere  fancy  to  think  of  Victor  Emmanuel  as 
the  historical  successor  of  Aistulf. 

The  immediate  danger  was  removed  by  the  advance 
of  the  Frankish  king.  Aistulf  at  first  resisted,  ^ome  again 
but  soon  shut  himself  up  in  Pavia,  and  agreed  besieged. 
to  return  all  the  lands  of  Rome.  Pippin  had  no  thought 
of  conquest,  and  returned  to  Gaul.  He  had  no  sooner 
crossed  the  Alps,  than  Aistulf  again  besieged  Rome 
with  a  larger  force  than  before,  and  declared  that  he 
would  not  leave  to  the  pope  a  single  hand's  breadth  of 
territory.  Stephen  now  sent  letters  to  Pippin  full  of 
prayers,  promises,  and  threats.  He  reminds  the  king 
that  all  his  victories  have  been  won  through  the  aid  of 
St.  Peter,  who  now  calls  upon  him  to  make  such  return 
as  is  possible.  If  he  would  listen,  he  should  have  con- 
tinued success ;  if  not,  if  he  suffers  the  city  of  Peter  to 
be  lacerated  and  tormented  by  the  Lombards,  his  own 
soul  shall  be  lacerated  and  tormented  in  hell,  with  the 
devil  and  his  pestilential  angels.  It  is  well  to  notice 
that  the  gross  ideas  of  the  religion  of  Christ  were  not 
confined  to  the  rude  barbarians  of  the  North,  but  were 
shared  by  him  who  claimed  to  be  the  vicar  of  Christ  on 
earth.  The  test  of  fidelity  to  the  religion  was  to  be 
devotion  to  the  very  human  institutions  which  had 
grown  up  about  it.     More  and  more  the   popes   were 


168  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

trying  to  make  men  believe  that  religion  and  the  Church 
were  one  and  the  same  thing,  and  men  seemed  more  than 
ever  ready  to  meet  this  claim  half  way. 

The  result  of  the  pressing  petitions  of  Stephen  was  a 
Second  expedi-  second  Italian  expedition.  There  are  many 
tion  of  Pippin,  reasons  for  believing  that  the  Frankish  nobil- 
ity did  not  especially  relish  these  long  and  weary 
journeys  over  the  Alps,  and  it  is  a  proof  of  the  great 
power  of  Pippin  over  his  people  that  he  could  persuade 
them  to  the  undertaking.  As  the  Frankish  army  moved 
over  the  pass  of  the  Mont  Cenis,  and  came  down  into 
the  plain  of  Susa,  Aistulf  had  been  moving  his  forces 
from  Rome  northward,  and  awaited  the  attack.  Again 
the  Franks  won  an  easy  victory,  and,  as  before,  Aistulf 
shut  himself  up  in  Pavia.  Pippin  began  a  regular  siege, 
but  the  Lombard  king  saw  that  his  cause  was  lost,  and 
agreed  to  surrender.  His  kingdom  and  his  life  were  left 
to  him,  we  are  told,  at  the  prayer  of  the  Frankish  nobles. 
He  agreed  to  pay  a  certain  yearly  tribute  to  the  Franks 
and  to  acknowledge  their  sovereignty.  In  other  words, 
the  Lombards  were  put  into  pretty  much  the  same 
relation  with  the  Franks  as  were  the  Bavarians  and  the 
Aquitanians. 

Far  more  important  for  us  are  the  terms  regarding 
„.    .  ,  ,        the  lands  of  Rome,  which  the  Lombards  had 

Pippin's  dona- 
tion to  the       taken.     It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  the  true 

papacy-  sovereign  of  Rome,  during  all  this  time,  was 

the  Eastern  Emperor.  Indeed,  a  great  part  of  the  lands 
taken  by  the  Lombards  did  not  by  any  possibility  belong 
to  Rome,  but  to  the  Exarchate,  which  was  the  represen- 
tative of  the  Emperor's  authority  in  Italy.  So  that  if 
Pippin  wished  to  restore  these  lands  to  their  true  owner, 


M ARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  169 

he  had  only  to  deal  with  the  Emperor  or  the  Exarch. 
But  we  remember  also  how  thoroughly  the  Empire  had 
forfeited  all  rights  over  Rome,  by  utter  neglect  of  its 
duty  of  defence,  and  we  have  seen  how,  in  the  moment 
of  its  greatest  need,  the  Exarchate  had  even  turned  for 
help  to  Rome.  While  Pippin  was  on  his  march  to  Italy, 
a  messenger  had  come  from  the  Emperor  at  Constanti- 
nople, to  remind  the  king  that  when  he  had  recovered 
the  lands  taken  by  the  Lombards  from  the  Empire,  he 
might,  if  he  pleased,  be  so  good  as  to  hand  them  over  to 
the  Emperor  again.  Pippin  assured  him  that  his  sole 
object  in  this  expedition  was  to  serve  St.  Peter,  and 
that  if  he  got  the  lands,  no  matter  to  whom  they  had 
belonged,  St.  Peter  should  have  them.  And  he  kept 
his  word.  He  forced  from  Aistulf  an  agreement  to 
restore  all  that  he  had  taken,  both  from  the  Empire 
and  from  the  Church  of  St.  Peter,  and  then,  with  all 
solemnity,  he  transferred  this  great  property  to  the 
pope.  It  included  lands  along  the  shore  of  the  Adri- 
atic, as  far  north,  as  Ravenna,  and  reaching  across  the 
peninsula  to  the  western  coast,  both  north  and  south 
from  Rome.  The  army  was  getting  impatient,  and 
Pippin  went  home;  but  he  left  behind  him 
trusty  men  who  went  over  the  whole  of  the 
surrendered  territory,  took  the  keys  of  all  the  cities, 
and  carried  them  to  Rome,  where  they  laid  them  on  the 
tomb  of  the  Apostle,  as  a  sign  of  his  sovereignty. 

This  was  the  real  beginning  of  the  States  of  the 
Church.     It  is  true  the  popes  did  not  actually  B   ■    .      f 
take  possession  of  great  parts  of  the  surren-  the  States  of 
dered  territory,  but  what  they  did  have  was      e    urc  ' 
worth  vastly  more  to  them  now  that  they  were  reasonably 


170  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

sure  of  being  defended  in  it  by  their  new  ally.  This 
was  the  pay  for  the  service  which  the  popes  had  done 
to  Pippin,  in  supporting  his  usurpation  of  the  Frankish 
throne.  It  seemed  like  an  enormous  increase  in  the 
power  of  the  papacy,  and  considering  that  it  was  a  time 
when  no  power  could  be  really  strong  which  was  not 
backed  up  by  a  landed  possession,  it  was  probably  the 
only  means  of  keeping  the  respect  of  the  world.  But 
this  gift  of  land  was  like  those  gifts  which  the  evil 
fairy  gives  to  the  child  in  the  fairy  tales.  It  changed 
the  character  of  the  papacy  from  a  power  over  the  souls 
of  men  to  a  sovereignty  over  land,  and  with  this  it 
brought  all  those  worldly  cares,  which  were  wholly 
inconsistent  with  a  spiritual  office.  There  is  something 
absurd,  not  to  say  impious,  in  the  idea  of  a  papal  court, 
a  papal  administration,  and  most  of  all,  a  papal  army. 
These  were  things  with  which  Christianity  had  nothing 
to  do,  and  there  have  been  wise  men  in  every  age  who 
have  seen  what  the  great  danger  was.  The  words  of 
such  men  were,  however,  always  unheard,  because  it 
seemed  like  such  a  splendid  thing  for  the  head  of  the 
Church  to  be  rich  and  powerful,  so  that  he  might  out- 
shine the  princes  of  the  world.  Only  in  our  day,  in  the 
great  year  1870,  and  then  by  a  train  of  causes  wholly 
apart  from  the  question  of  wise  or  unwise,  has  the 
papacy  lost  the  last  foot  of  that  fatal  gift  of  land  which 
ever  since  the  days  of  King  Pippin  has  been  the  chief 
source  of  its  many  weaknesses  and  sins. 

It  has  always  been  an  interesting  question  just  how 
great  the  power  of  the  popes  over  their  lands  was,  or 
was  meant  to  be.  Papal  scholars  have  always  under- 
stood that  by  the  terms  of  this  gift  the  popes  were  to 


MARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  171 

be   just   as   much   sovereigns   of   all   this   territory  as 
Pippin  was  sovereign  in  Gaul.     Others  have 

?         ,  .  Rights  of 

believed,  however,  that  this  was  only  a  change  papacy  to 
of  sovereigns  from  the  Greek  emperor  to  the  lands' 
Frankish  king,  and  that  the  pope  remained  what  he  had 
always  been, — a  sovereign  only  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  every  bishop  was  ruler,  under  some  overlord,  of 
a  large  piece  of  territory.  According  to  the  first  view, 
Pippin  would  be  only  the  servant  of  the  papacy,  its 
military  defender,  whenever  his  help  should  be  neces- 
sary; according  to  the  latter  view,  he  would  be  the 
overlord  of  Rome,  and  the  pope  would  owe  him  the 
same  kind  of  allegiance  which  the  Bishop  of  Metz  or  of 
Orleans  owed  him. 

The  problem  was  not  made  any  simpler  by  the  use  of 
the  title  "  Patricius  of  Rome  "  for  Pippin.  p.  . 
This  was  a  name  given  in  the  later  Roman  "Patricius 
Empire  to  an  officer  set  over  a  province  by  °  ome' 
the  government.  It  meant,  if  it  meant  anything,  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  highest  temporal  power  in  the  prov- 
ince. Its  use  for  the  Frankish  king,  then,  implied  that  he 
held  the  supreme  temporal  authority  in  Rome,  subject 
perhaps  to  an  implied  sovereignty  of  the  Eastern  Em- 
peror; in  other  words,  that  the  pope  was  under  him  in 
political  matters.  If  he  had  been  a  person  sent  by  the 
Emperor  at  Constantinople,  he  would,  of  course,  have 
been  bound  to  respect  the  Emperor's  authority.  As 
things  were,  he  was  justified  in  thinking  of  himself  as 
standing  in  the  Emperor's  place.  We  shall  see  later 
that  the  pope  preferred  to  consider  himself  as  taking 
the  Emperor's  place,  and  thus  to  be  sovereign  over  the 
"  Patricius."     We  cannot  go  further  into  this  question 


172  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

here,  but  must  keep  it  in  mind  until  we  come  to  it 
again  in  the  history  of  Pippin's  greater  son. 

Aistulf  the  Lombard  died  soon  after  his  misfortune. 
~   ,z  .  The  papal  and  Frankish  writers  describe  him 

Desiderras  r   r 

last  king  of  as  a  monster  of  treachery  and  cruelty,  the 
t  e  om  ar  s.   enemy  0f  q0(j  an(j  man  .  ^ne  Lombard  history, 

on  the  other  hand,  speaks  of  him  with  great  respect, 
as  a  man  of  singular  piety,  the  founder  of  churches  and 
the  benefactor  of  his  people.  We  may  well  believe 
that  both  reports  have  a  measure  of  truth  in  them.  At 
his  death,  the  royal  monk  Rachis,  tired,  it  would  seem, 
of  his  life  in  Monte  Casino,  claimed  the  Lombard 
throne.  He  was  opposed  by  the  pope,  to  whom,  of 
course,  the  monastic  vow  was  sacred,  and  was  finally 
put  aside  by  a  usurper  named  Desiderius,  who. was  to 
be  the  last  king  of  the  Lombard  race.  Pippin,  at  the 
request  of  the  pope,  approved  the  choice  of  Desiderius, 
and  winked  at  the  addition  of  several  fine  towns  to  the 
long  list  of  those  which  he  had  already  confirmed  to  the 
papacy.  The  reign  of  the  new  king  began  with  every 
prospect  of  peaceable  relations  with  the  Franks  and  with 
the  popes.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  all  these 
dealings  with  Italy  we  see  no  attempt  on  the  part  of 
Pippin  to  gain  one  bit  of  land  for  himself  or  for  any  of 
his  followers. 

How  much  the  success  of  the  ItaKajuwars  wa^jyjorth 
i      to_  Pippin  ."we  see  at  thegreat  May  Meeting 
tionof  of  the  next  year.     From  every  quarter  came 

Pippin.  proofs  of  the  commanding   position   of  the 

Frankish  king.  Ambassadors  from  the  Eastern  Roman 
Empire  came  to  beg  him  to  restore  the  lands  of  the 
Exarchate  in  Italy ;  but  the  time  for  that  was  long  gone 


MARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  173 

by.  Messengers  from  the  pope  and  from  the  Lombards 
came  to  receive  anew  the  confirmation  of  all  that  had 
been  done  in  Italy,  not  only  from  the  king,  but  also 
from  the  assembled  princes,  both  lay  and  clerical,  of  the 
Fran  Irish  nation.  The  young  duke,  Tassilo  Submission  of 
of  Bavaria,  the  nephew  of  Pippin,  whose  first  Bavaria. 
deed  of  arms  had  been  in  the  Italian  war,  appeared  to 
do  homage  to  the  king.  With  his  folded  hands  laid  in 
those  of  his  uncle,  he  vowed  by  all  the  saints  to  be  his 
true  and  faithful  vassal,  and  repeated  the  same  vow  of 
allegiance  to  the  two  princes  Karl  and  Karlmann,  the 
sons  of  Pippin.  Thus  was  Bavaria  formally  declared 
to  be  a  part  of  the  Prankish  kingdom,  and  the  worst 
crime  possible  for  her  duke  would  be  the  refusal  to 
come  at  the  call  of  his  lord  the  king,  whenever  his  ser- 
vice in  war  should  be  needed.  As  usual,  the  meeting 
of  the  nobles  was  at  the  same  time  a  council  of  the 
Church,  and  a  long  list  of  decrees  were  passed  to  regu- 
late the  life  of  the  clergy  and  their  control  over  the 
lives  of  all  men.  These  decrees  were  almost  wholly  in 
the  line  of  those  marriage  rules  we  have  already  spoken 
of.  They  were  intended  to  make  it  still  more  clear 
that  the  Frankish  state  was  founded  on  the  rock  of  a 
sincere  devotion  to  the  Church,  and  of  a  thorough  deter- 
mination to  bring  the  lives  of  its  subjects  under  its  con- 
trol. 

During  the  rest  of  Pippin's  reign  he  was  not  again 
called  upon  to  lead  an  army  into  Italy,  but  pippin 
natji_year  passed  without  some  appeal  to  him   activity, 
to  regulate  some  difficulty  or  other  between  the  neigh- 
boring lands  of  the  Lombards  and  the  Romans.     Desi- 
derius  was  in  no  haste  to  hand  over  the  places  he  had 


174  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

promised;  the  dukes  of  Spoleto  and  Benevento  were  a 
constant  thorn  in  his  side,  and  to  reach  them  he  could 
hardly  avoid  treading  upon  the  forbidden  ground  of  the 
papal  territory;  then  again,  all  along  the  border  there 
was  a  debatable  ground  on  which  one  side  or  the  other 
was  constantly  trespassing.  So  that  it  was  plain  that  a 
renewal  of  the  recent  difficulties  was  only  a  question 
of  time. 

Almost  as  important  for  the  future  of  the  kingdom 
Eeductionof  as  ^ne  affairs  of  Italy  was  the  conquest  of 
Aquitaine.  Aquitaine.  The  duke  Hunold,  who  had  made 
trouble  in  the  early  days  of  Pippin,  had  given  up  his 
power  and  gone  into  a  monastery.  His  son  Waifar  had 
taken  his  place,  and  had  almost  at  once  begun  a  new 
series  of  quarrels  with  the  Franks.  The  same  patriotic 
elements  which  had  supported  his  father,  rallied  around 
him,  and  the  war  took  on  the  character  of  a  struggle  of 
a  brave  and  vigorous  people  for  its  independence  of 
foreign  control.  Nine  times  during  the  course  of  his 
reign  did  Pippin  cross  the  Loire  and  carry  the  war  into 
the  eiiemy^s  country.  We  have  little  account  of  these 
expeditions,  in  some  cases  a  mere  mention ;  but  it  is 
clear  that  the  resistance  was  desperate,  and  that  nothing 
short  of  a  complete  conquest  would  ever  bring  the 
country  into  the  control  of  the  Frankish  rulers.  The 
attack  was  usually  made  from  the  eastern  side  and  at 
first  only  in  the  form  of  a  summer  campaign,  the  troops 
returning  then  to  winter  at  home.  Finally,  however, 
the  king  saw  that  this  would  not  do,  and  we  find  him 
wintering  in  the  country.  The  result  was 
that  when  the  usual  winter  uprising  took 
place,  the  king  and  the  army  were  on  the  spot  and  fol- 


M ARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE.  175 

lowed  it  up  without  delay.  Rumor  had  it  that  Pippin, 
despairing  of  capturing  the  duke  by  fair  means,  sent  a 
murderer  to  take  his  life  ;  and  though  this  cannot  be 
proved,  it  is  certain  that  Waifar  was  murdered  in  the 
following  summer  by  one  of  his  followers.  This  ended 
what  the  Prankish  writers  call  the  rebellion,  but  what 
we  see  to  be  rather  the  struggle  of  a  nation,  made  up 
mainly  of  Gallo-Roman  stock,  against  a  rule  which  it 
could  only  look  upon  as  a  foreign  tyranny. 

After-  the  death  of  this,  the  last  duke  of  the  Aqui- 
tanians,  the  whole  country  submitted  to  the  Government 
Prankish  arms.  A  great  assembly  was  held  of  Aquitaine. 
at  Saintes,  and  measures  for  the  government  of  the  con- 
quered province  were  passed.  These  measures  interest 
us  asT  foreshadowing  the  work  of  Pippin's  son  Charle- 
magne after  his  far  wider  conquests.  First  of  all,  the 
interests  of  the  Church  are  provided  for. 
Churches  which  have  suffered  in  the  late 
campaigns  are  to  be  rebuilt ;  church  property  which  has 
been  confiscated  is  to  be  restored  as  it  had  been,  we 
remember,  in  the  Frankish  country  itself ;  that  is,  by 
allowing  it  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  laymen  who 
now  held  it,  on  condition  that  they  should  devote  a 
part  of  the  income  to  the  service  of  the  Church.  Such 
laymen  must  see  to  it  that  they  have  proper  documents 
made  out  to  show  that  the  land  they  are  holding  really 
belongs  to  the  Church,  and  that  they  are  holding  it  only 
for  their  use,  not  as  their  own  property.  This  was  the 
sort  of  tenure  called  a  "  precarium,"  and  we  shall  find 
it  very  important  when  we  come  to  study  the  feudal 
system. 

Then  as  to  the  civil  government,  we  see  that  the  so- 


176  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

called  duchy  had  disappeared  with  Waii'ar.  Its  place 
Frankish  might  have  been  supplied  in  many  ways.  For 
"Counts"  instance,  Pippin  might  have  placed  one  of  his 
qm '  sons  there  as  administrator,  and  thus  have 
kept  up  the  idea  of  Aquitaine  as  a  province  by  itself ; 
but  this  would  probably  have  given  rise  to  new  conspir- 
acies, might  even  have  turned  his  own  house  against 
the  king.  The  plan  followed  was  one  which  tended  to 
make  the  people  of  Aquitaine  feel  themselves  a  part  of 
the  Frankish  kingdom.  In  place  of  the  duke  was  set, 
not  one  ruler,  but  a  multitude  of  royal  officers  called 
"  counts."  These  were  probably  in  many  cases  such 
Aquitanians  as  could  be  depended  upon,  and  who  would, 
of  course,  be  more  acceptable  to  the  inhabitants.  Others 
were  Franks,  who  would  be  sent  to  live  in  the  province, 
and  given  the  revenue  of  certain  lands  there  for  their 
support.  Their  duty  was  to  look  out  for  the  interests 
of  the  king,  to  act  as  judges,  to  collect  the  revenue  and 
to  lead  the  military  whenever  there  was  occasion.  They 
were  appointed  by  the  king  and  owed  an  account  of 
their  office  to  him.  If  you  will  carefully  keep  in  mind 
"Count"  this  character  of  the  "count"  as  a  royal  offi- 
and"Duke,"  cei^  anc|  compare  it  with  the  meaning  of 
"  duke  "  as  the  head  of  a  people,  usually  in  opposition 
to  any  "higher  power,  you  will  have  an  important  guide 
to  much  of  the  history  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Wherever 
you  come  across  dukes  you  may  almost  always  be  sure 
that  they  represent  some  local  authority,  which  has 
grown  out  of  the  people,  and  expresses  on  a  small 
scale  a  national  feeling;  wherever  you  find  a  count, 
you  may  generally  be  sure  that  he  owes  his  origin  to  a 
royal  appointment,  though  he  may  have    entirely  for- 


M ARTEL   TO   CHARLEMAGNE.  177 

gotten  this,  and  in  the  progress  of  time  have  come  to 
stand  for  a  distinctly  local  feeling  just  as  much  as  any 
duke. 

We  have  again  to  notice  in  these  acts  of  Pippin  a 
case  of  that  curious  respect  for  the  rights  of  personality 
the  conquered  which  we  saw  in  the  chapter  of  law- 
on  law.  All  subjects  are  to  have  the  freest  right  of 
approach  to  the  king,  and  if  any  one  molest  them  on  the 
way,  he  is  to  be  severely  punished.  So  again  every 
resident  of  Aquitania,  be  he  "  Roman,  or  Salian,  or  from 
whatever  other  province  he  may  come,"  is  to  be  judged 
by  the  law  of  his  own  country.  Many  documents  which 
have  come  down  to  us  show  that  this,  which  seems  like 
an  impossible  degree  of  consideration  for  the  rights 
of  the  conquered,  was  actually  carried  out,  and  that 
the  Roman  subject  of  the  Franks  was  tried  by  the 
Frankish  judge  according  to  the  Roman  law ;  the  Goth, 
according  to  the  Gothic  law. 

You  will  see  how  different  the  treatment  of  Aquitaine 
was  from  that  of   Bavaria,  where  the  duke  Tassilode- 
Odilo  after  his  defeat   had  been  allowed  to  ?lfes^ 

independence! 

remain  as  head  of  the  Bavarian  nation,  and  764. 
where,  upon  the  death  of  this  duke,  his  son  Tassilo  had 
in  the  most  solemn  manner  declared  his  allegiance  to 
the  king  of  the  Franks.  That  was  six  years  ago,  and 
now  while  Pippin  was  in  the  thick  of  the  Aquitanian 
war,  the  Bavarian  duke,  bound  to  the  king  by  the 
closest  ties  of  relationship  as  well  as  of  honor,  declared 
his  entire  independence.  Again  the  instinct  of  local 
authority  had  proved  too  strong  for  the  principle  of 
allegiance  to  a  central  power.  The  moment  was  well 
chosen.     Pippin   had   his   hands   full  at  home,  and  it 


178  THE  FRANKS  FROM 

was  not  until  well  into  the  reign  of  Charlemagne 
that  Bavaria  was  really  incorporated  into  the  Frankish 
kingdom. 

The  last  act  of  the  reign  of  King  Pippin  was  the 
Division  of  division  of  the  kingdom  between  his  two  sons 
768,  Karl  and  Karlmahn.     At  the  former  division 

of  the  year  741  the  purpose  was  clearly  to  make  an 
eastern  and  a  western  province  out  of  the  purely  Frank- 
ish lands,  and  then  to  add  the  southern  province  of 
Aquitaine,  without  dividing  it,  as  a  tributary  state, 
owing  allegiance  to  both  the  rulers  of  the  north.  Now, 
however,  the  division  seems  to  have  been  more  on  the 
basis  of  a  northern  and  a  southern  half,  though  so  im- 
portant a  province  as  Neustria  is  not  mentioned  at  all 
in  the  brief  records  which  have  come  down  to  us. 

Hardly  had  Pippin  thus  provided  for  the  future  when 
death  overtook  him.  He  left  to  his  sons 
vices  to  rather  a  plan  for  future  action  than  the  full 

Europe.  accomplishment  of  the  task  he  had  set  before 

himself.  And  yet  the  one  solid  foundation  for  all  their 
work,  the  willing  allegiance  of  the  Frankish  people,  was 
prepared  for  them  by  his  energy.  This  is  the  real  im- 
portance of  Pippin,  —  that  he  had  given  to  his  people  a 
governing  house  in  which  it  could  have  confidence.  He 
had  strengthened  his  family  by  the  alliance  with  Rome, 
and  had  cemented  that  alliance  by  a  service  which  it 
seemed  could  never  be  forgotten.  He  had  thrown  all 
the  weight  of  his  position  to  aid  the  church  of  Gaul  in 
its^efTorts  to  elevate  the  life  of  the  people,  and  had  se- 
cured it  in  the  possession  of  those  landed  estates  which 
were  necessary  to  its  support.  He  stands  before  us  in 
the  dim  outlines  of  the  writers  of  his  time,  as  a  grand 


MARTEL   TO  CHARLEMAGNE. 


179 


and  commanding  figure.  It  has  been  his  misfortune  to 
be  overshadowed  by  his  far  greater  son,  and  the  world 
has  too  often  forgotten  that  without  the  preparation 
which  he  had  laid  much  of  the  best  work  of  that  son 
would  have  been  imDOSsible. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS 

Authorities  :  —  See  Chapter  XII. 

Modern  Works  :  —  Sigurd  Abel :  Jahrbiicher  des  Frankischen 
Reiches  unter  Karl  dem  Grossen.  2  Bde.  1866-1883.  —  Al- 
phonse  Vetault:  Charlemagne.  1877.  —  Eginhardus  :  Leberi 
und  Wandel  Karls  des  Grossen.  Einleitung,  Urschrift,  Urkun- 
densammlung.  Ed.  J.  L.  Ideler.  Hamb.  1839.  —  Eginhardus  : 
Life  of  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Great.  Trans,  by  W.  Glaister. 
Lond.  1877.  —  Eginhard :  Life  of  Charlemagne.  Trans,  by  S.  E. 
Turner,  in  Harper's  Half-Hour  Series.  —  James  Bryce:  The 
Holy  Roman  Empire.  —  Gaston  Paris:  Histoire  Poetique  de 
Charlemagne.     1865. 

In  studying  the  history  of  Charlemagne  we  are  deal- 
ing with  one_of  the  greatest  men  of  all  time.  To  be 
sure,  the  way  had  been  prepared  for  him  by  others  who 
were  great  men  too  in  their  day,  but  it  was  for  him  to 
gather  up  the  various  threads  of  policy  which  the  others 
had  begun,  and  weave  them  all  together  into  a  great 
fabric  of  government.  He  stands  at  the  end  of  one  age, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  another,  and  what  he  did  was 
the  foundation  of  all  the  future  history  of  Europe.  It 
is  for  this  reason  that  we  must  spend  more  time  in 
studying  his  reign  than  we  have  given  to  any  other 
period  of  equal  length. 

We  saw  how  at  the  death  of  King  Pippin  the  king- 
dom  of   the    Franks  was  divided   into    two   parts,   or 


Kd 


S 


'ORTl 

A 


C    1 


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V 


^orthamptorij      ^0^ 


E«S 


I     A 


f  s 


e* 


iC  Winta 


undi-mv 
faster  lcant^^rhf 

5l 


<f' 


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^JjToxandria 


r-^^x        ^Flandria^BracV»ant  7   Ril 
^*a     V  ; leiytallium?  Aguis 


<b 


»bRit\v^ 


^  %^j\^*  Andejjavi 


^,ctaVeL1(8v;BltuN'V-IKduni,rao  "^»«^ 

^-w^        Pictdvis  \  J  1       v   CabiUic^s?       sup 

C"^-0^'       Arvernum/ 


longitude 


West 


.Longitude 


R 


Ci 


(TBANSAl.' 


VBINGIA  / 

^ammaburg         i  —.-.    _. 
Ab°d  1  s     Y 
jBrema  .       "** 


!<M  5 


>  16  20 

S^j    FRANKISH  KINGDOM^ 

UNDER  THE 

CAROLINIANS. 

| JWwdBBiL Ztngdoro  at.£A«  3eart  o/  CAaWentajpie,  81,4. 

Northern  limit  of  the  Papal  Territory  according  to 
.         *  f  ft«  alleged  donation  of  Charlemagne. 


^GaTi^ersheim  oJjBalberstad;" 
lrg  Trieaesiaro 


p  CTtarZemajrtte. 
SCALE  OF  MILE8 


o      vV    j2  °- 

■J    Buriaburg?/ ^(CErpesfur 

F  RJ  N   C  (l  .A ' 


[HalU"X;>  \ 


R  iTt-N.  TALIS 


praga 


* Heiliwrunn.eri'    '•,      ';  ,t 

!  trazburg-^        o^*''^     k„  .  • 
/Ulma   j  ?"sl 


Jo    K 


Curia/ 


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MediiJanum 


LA 

•in 


Tridentum 


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\  48 


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Carniolftf 


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A* 


L^a^^pStbriaT^  Penvtt, 

/tusciJa 


->r' 


Saturn.        ^ 


^    .       U 


-^^> 


_S   *>^\B    *    N   E  ,y 


^ 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS.  181 

rather  that  the  government  over  the  kingdom  was  di- 
vided, for  some  large  parts  of  the  territory  seem  to  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  two  brothers  together.  The 
fact  is,  that  we  know  next  to  nothing  about 
this  division,  and  hardly  more  about  the  joint  soie  king  of 
reign  of  the  brothers.  The  only  thing  really  the  Franks, 
clear  is,  that  they  did  not  get  along  very 
well  together,  that  Karl  was  distinctly  the  more  active 
and  capable  of  the  two,  and  that  after  four  years  the 
younger  brother,  Karlmann,  died,  leaving  two  sons. 
Here  was  a  chance  for  the  old  miseries  of  division  to 
begin  again;  but  fortunately  the  Franks  seem  by  this 
time  to  have  had  enough  of  that,  and  to  have  seen  that 
their  greatest  hope  for  the  future  lay  in  a  united  gov- 
ernment. The  widow  and  children  of  Karlmann  went 
to  the  court  of  the  Lombard  king  Desiderius  and  were 
cared  for  by  him.  The  whole  Frankish  people  acknowl- 
edged riharTm-na-omft  a.s  tfrejr  king.  Of  course  he  "was 
ndT  yet  called  Charlemagne,  but  simply  Karl,  and  he 
was  yet  to  show  himself  worthy  of  the  addition  "  Mag- 
nus." 

Conquest  of  L*ombardy.  —  It  is  curious  to  see  that 
Charlemagne,  whose  whole  reign  was  to  be  „    . 

,  Marries  a 

filled  with  wars  against  almost  all  his  neigh-  Lombard 
bors,  should  have  begun  by  seeking  the  alii-  Prmcess' 
ance  of  perhaps  the  most  dangerous  of  all  these  neigh- 
bors, and  asking  for  the  hand  of  the  daughter  of  Desi- 
derius in  marriage.  When  the  pope,  Stephen,  heard  that 
there  was  a  prospect  of  such  a  marriage,  he  wrote  the 
most  violent  letters  to  the  young  kings,  beseeching 
them  by  all  that  was  holy  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 


182  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

the  foul  race  of  the  Lombards.1  In  the  course  of  the 
letter  the  pope  mildly  reminds  them  that  they  ought 
not  to  put  away  their  present  wives;  but  it  is  clear 
that  the  real  evil  in  his  eyes  was  the  Lombard  mar- 
riage, not  the  trifling  sin  of  bigamy.  The  result  was 
that  Charlemagne  married  the  Lombard  princess,  and 
thus  an  alliance  was  made  which  seemed  to  threaten 
all  the  good  results  of  the  two  previous  reigns,  so  far 
as  the  Roman  interests  were  concerned.  And  in  fact 
we  may  well  believe  that  Charlemagne  had  no  inten- 
tion at  first  of  making  war  on  the  Lombards.  It  was 
not  until  the  pope  began  once  more  to  call  •  upon  him, 
and  to  show  him  how  dangerous  the  situation  was,  that 
he  consented  to  cross  the  Alps.  Even  then  he  tried 
his  best  to  make  peace  with  his  father-in-law,  and  even 

1  This  is  his  language :  "  It  has  been  brought  to  our  notice,  and  we 
have  heard  it  with  great  sorrow,  that  Desiderius,  king  of  the  Lombards, 
is  trying  to  join  his  daughter  with  one  of  your  excellencies  in  marriage. 
If  this  be  true,  it  is  certainly  the  invention  of  the  devil,  and  is  not  to 
be  called  a  marriage,  but  rather  a  mere  wicked  union.  For  what  could 
be  greater  folly,  0  most  excellent  sons  of  a  great  king,  than  that  your 
illustrious  Frankish  race,  which  outshines  all  nations,  and  the  glorious 
and  noble  offspring  of  your  royal  power,  should  be  defiled  by  the  foul 
and  faithless  race  of  the  Lombard,  —  which  is  not  even  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  nations, — from  whom  the  race  of  lepers  is  well  known  to 
have  sprung  ?  No  one  of  sound  mind  can  think  of  it,  that  such  illus- 
trious kings  could  bind  themselves  in  such  a  horrible  and  abominable 
union;  for  what  has  light  to  do  with  darkness,  or  the  faithful  with  the 
infidel  ? 

"  For,  O  most  gentle  and  divinely  ordained  kings,  already  by  the  will 
of  God  and  by  the  command  of  your  father  you  are  bound  in  lawful 
wedlock,  having  taken  your  beautiful  wives,  like  noble  and  illustrious 
kings,  from  your  own  fatherland,  from  the  noble  race  of  the  Franks. 
You  ought  to  be  bound  by  love  of  them,  and  certainly  it  is  not  right 
for  you  to  put  them  away,  and  to  take  other  wives  of  a  foreign  race." 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  183 

went  so  far  as  to  offer  him  a  large  sum  of  money,  if  he 
would  agree  to  return  the  lands  of  the  papacy.  Only 
when  this  was  refused  did  he  make  up  his  mind  to 
fight,  and  gave  an  emphasis  to  his  declaration  of  war 
by  sending  his  new  wife  home  to  her  father.  We  are 
beginning  to  see  that  our  hero  was  not  too  nice  in  the 
matter  of  his  family  morals. 

The  defiance  of  Desiderius  did  not  help  him  when 
Charlemagne  had  passed  the  Alps.  He  made  Charlemagne 
scarcely  any  resistance,  but,  like  his  predeces-  before  Pavia- 
sors,  shut  himself  up  within  the  walls  of  Pavia.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  power  of  the  Lombards  had 
been  seriously  weakened  by  the  residence  in  Italy.  As 
yet  they  had  not  been  able  to  face  a  Frankish  army  in  the 
open  field,  and  had  had  success  only  when  they  were 
opposed  to  the  degenerate  inhabitants  of  Italy.  We 
get  all  this  from  Frankish  writers,  it  is  true ;  but  they 
would  have  been  glad  to  make  the  resistance  as  great 
as  possible,  in  order  to  magnify  the  greatness  of  their 
hero.  Let  us  see  how  these  events  looked  to  the  men 
of  a  couple  of  generations  afterward.  In  the  year  883 
an  aged  monk  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Gallen,  in  Swit- 
zerland, wrote  the  story  of  these  times  as  he  had  heard 
it  from  his  father  and  from  another  still  older  monk. 
He  tells  about  Desiderius  shutting  himself  up  in  Pavia, 
and  then  goes  on  to  say :  — 

"  It  had  happened  some  years  before  that  one  of  Karl's  most 
distinguished  nobles,  by  the  name  of  Otker,  had  incurred  the 
wrath  of  the  dread  king,  and  had  betaken  himself  to  Desiderius. 
Now  when  they  heard  of  the  approach  of  the  terrible  Karl,  they 
climbed  up  into  a  high  tower,  whence  they  could  see  in  all  directions. 
When  the  advanced  guard  appeared,  which  was  stronger  than  in 


184  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

the  armies  of  Darius  or  Julius,  Desiderius  said  to  Otker,  '  Is  Karl 
with  this  great  army,  do  you  think  ? '  and  he  answered,  '  Not  yet.' 
But  when  he  saw  the  main  army,  gathered  from  the  whole  broad 
empire,  he  said  with  confidence  to  Otker,  '  Surely  the  victorious 
Karl  is  with  these  troops ' ;  and  Otker  answered,  '  Not  yet,  not 
yet.'  Then  Desiderius  began  to  be  troubled,  and  said,  ■  What 
shall  we  do  if  still  more  come  with  him  ? '  Otker  said,  '  You 
will  soon  see  how  he  will  come;  but  what  will  become  of  us,  I 
know  not.'  And  behold,  while  they  were  speaking,  appeared  the 
servants  of  his  household,  a  never-resting  multitude.  'That  is 
Karl,'  said  the  terrified  Desiderius.  But  Otker  said,  'Not  yet, 
not  yet.'  Then  appeared  the  bishops  and  abbots,  and  the  chap- 
lains with  their  companions.  When  he  beheld  these,  the  prince, 
dazed  with  fear  and  longing  for  death,  stammered  out  these  words, 
'  Let  us  go  down  and  hide  in  the  earth  before  the  wrath  of  so  ter- 
rible an  enemy.'  But  Otker,  who  in  better  times  had  known  well 
the  power  and  the  armament  of  the  incomparable  Karl,  answered, 
full  of  dread,  '  When  you  see  a  harvest  of  steel  waving  in  the 
fields,  and  the  Po  and  the  Ticino  dashing  steel-black  waves  against 
the  city  walls,  then  you  may  believe  that  Karl  is  coming.'  He 
had  scarcely  spoken  when  there  appeared  in  the  north  and  west, 
as  it  were,  a  dark  cloud,  which  wrapped  the  clear  day  in  most  dread- 
ful shadow.  But  as  the  king  drew  near,  there  flashed  upon  the 
besieged  from  the  gleaming  weapons  a  day  that  was  more  terrible 
for  them  than  any  night.  Then  they  saw  him,  Karl,  the  man  of 
steel,  his  arms  covered  with  plates  of  steel,  his  iron  breast  and  his 
broad  shoulders  protected  by  a  steel  harness ;  his  left  hand  carried 
aloft  the  iron  lance,  for  his  right  was  always  ready  for  the  victori- 
ous steel.  His  thighs,  which  others  leave  uncovered  in  order  the 
more  easily  to  mount  their  horses,  were  covered  on  the  outside 
with  iron  scales.  The  greaves  of  steel  I  need  not  mention,  for 
they  were  common  to  the  whole  army.  His  shield  was  all  of  steel, 
and  his  horse  was  iron  in  color  and  in  spirit.  This  armor  all  who 
rode  before  him,  by  his  side,  or  who  followed  him,  in  fact,  the 
whole  army,  had  tried  to  imitate  as  closely  as  possible.  Steel  filled 
the  fields  and  roads.  The  rays  of  the  sun  were  reflected  from 
gleaming  steel.  The  people,  paralyzed  by  fear,  did  homage  to  the 
bristling  steel.     The  fear  of  the  gleaming  steel  pierced  down  deep 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  185 

into  the  earth.  'Alas  the  steel!  Alas  the  steel!'  resounded  the 
confused  cries  of  the  inhabitants.  The  mighty  walls  trembled  be- 
fore the  steel,  and  the  courage  of  youths  fled  before  the  steel  of 
the  aged. 

"  And  all  this,  which  I,  a  stammering  and  toothless  old  man, 
have  told  with  all  too  many  words,  the  truthful  seer  Otker  saw 
with  one  swift  look,  and  said  to  Desiderius :  'There  you  have 
Karl,  whom  you  have  so  long  desired,'  and  with  these  words  he 
fell  to  the  ground  like  one  dead." 

At  all  events,  whether  the  Lombard  king  was  half 
frightened  to  death  at  sight  of  the  Frank- 
ish  host  or  not,  he  made  but  little  resistanft,  king  of  the 
and  at  the  first  sign  of  a  regular  siege,  sur-  Lombards, 
rendered  the  city  and  his  crown.  The  Lom- 
bard kingdom  was  at  an  end.  Charlemagne  had  well 
fulfilled  the  promises  of  his  race,  and  had  made  it  clear 
that  his  first  duty  was  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  Not  a 
hand  seems  to  have  been  raised  to  help  Desiderius  in 
his  distress.  He  was  a  usurper,  and  his  reign  had 
never  been  popular  with  many  of  the  Lombard  nobles. 
They  now  came  in  from  all  directions  to  accept  Charle- 
magne as  their  king.  We  see  here  at  the  outset  proofs 
of  the  singular  moderation  which  marked  the  whole 
career  of  the  man.  He  did  not  try  to  make  Lombardy 
a  part  of  the  Prankish  kingdom,  but  rather  made  him- 
self king  of  the  Lombards.  The  Lombard  government 
was  not  disturbed.  The  only  change  was  that  whereas 
before  the  people  had  had  Desiderius  for  their  overlord, 
they  now  had  Charles.  By  people  we  mean,  of  course, 
only  the  fighting  men,  the  nobility  and  their  followers. 
The  laboring  classes  were  of  no  account  politically,  and 
probably  had  no  idea  whatever  as  to  who  their  sover- 
eign might  be.     This  holding  of  two  powers  by  the 


186  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

same  man  is  something  a  little  hard  for  us  to  under- 
stand ;  but  it  is  a  very  common  thing  in  all  periods  of 
history,  and  we  shall  often  have  to  meet  it  again.  It 
was  really  a  matter  of  very  great  importance  whether 
Lombardy  was  a  mere  province  of  the  Franks,  or 
whether  it  kept  its  own  form  of  government,  and  sim- 
ply took  the  Frankish  king  in  place  of  its  own.  The 
Lombards  had  got  possession  of  so  large  a  part  of  Italy 
that  their  king  might  well  call  himself  King  of  Italy, 
and  we  shall  soon  see  that  title  quite  crowding  out  the 
smaller  title t)f  King  of  the  Lombards. 

This  conquest  of  Italy  was  of  the  greatest  impor- 
tance, by  bringing  Charlemagne  into  still 
closer  relations  with  the  papacy.  It  had 
been  a  very  good  thing  for  the  popes  that  the  power 
which  had  saved  them  from  their  dangerous  enemy  had 
itself  been  well  removed  from  them.  Now,  however, 
this  protecting  power  had  come  to  be  their  neighbor, 
and  there  was  danger  that  it  might  in  its  turn  show  the 
disagreeable  results  of  too  close  neighborhood.  Even 
before  the  conquest,  while  the  Frankish  army  lay  be- 
fore the  walls  of  Pavia,  Charlemagne  had  gone  to 
Rome,  and  had  business  dealings  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance with  the  pope,  Hadrian.  His  reception  had  been 
of  the  most  imposing  sort.  The  pope  sent  his  messen- 
gers miles  out  of  the  city  to  escort  him,  and  prepared  a 
magnificent  procession  to  meet  him  at  the  gates.  He 
himself  hastened  the  next  morning  with  all  the  clergy 
of  Rome  to  welcome  the  king  at  the  door  of  St.  Peter's. 
Charlemagne,  anxious,  in  his  turn,  to  show  every  re- 
spect for  the  holy  city  and  its  bishop,  kissed  the  steps 
of  the  church  as  he  ascended,  then  embraced  the  pope, 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  187 

and  entered  the  church  holding  him  by  the  hand.  The 
clergy  sang,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,"  and  the  procession  moved  to  the  grave  of 
the  apostle,  said  to  be  within  the  enclosure  of  the 
church.  The  next  day  was  Easter,  and  the  solemn 
ceremonies  were  continued.  Charlemagne  was  un- 
wearied in  his  devotion  at  the  principal  shrines  of  the 
holy  city,  and  Hadrian  could  not  be  polite  enough  in 
his  attentions.  As  yet,  however,  he  had  not  invited 
the  king  to  stay  within  the  city,  but  had  visited  him  at 
St.  Peter's,  which  was  then  outside  the  main  city,  and 
had  only  asked  him  within  for  special  visits  to  some 
sacred  spot. 

On  the  fourth  day  the  pope  came  out  once  more  with 
all  state  to  St.  Peter's,  and  had  a  conversa-  ^ 

Donation  of 

tion  with  Charlemagne  which  is  full  of  in-  pippin 
terest  for  us.  He  began  by  reminding  him  renewed- 
of  the  promise  which  his  father  Pippin,  together  with 
his  brother  Karlmann  and  himself,  had  made  to  Pope 
Stephen  during  his  visit  to  Gaul,  that  they  would  re- 
store to  the  papacy  certain  lands  in  Italy,  which  the 
wicked  Lombards  had  taken  from  it.  He  read  him  a 
copy  of  this  document,  and  Charlemagne  declared  that 
he  and  his  nobles  were  agreed  to  its  terms.  Then  the 
king  had  a  new  copy  of  the  agreement  made  out  and 
signed  by  all  the  bishops,  abbots,  dukes,  and  counts  in 
his  following.  He  then  laid  the  document  on  the  altar, 
and  afterward  on  the  grave  of  the  apostle,  and  handed 
it  finally  to  the  pope,  swearing,  as  he  did  so,  a  mighty 
oath,  that  he  would  carry  out  all  that  it  contained.  A 
second  copy  was  laid  beneath  the  Gospels,  near  the 
relics  of  the  apostle,  and  a  third  was  carried  home  by 


188  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF   THE  FRANKS. 

the  king  himself.  This  detailed  account,  written  by 
the  biographer  of  Hadrian,  shows  how  great  the  impor- 
tance of  this  act  was  felt  to  be.  By  it  the  king  of  the 
Franks  declared  himself  to  be  the  defender  of  the  rights 
of  the  papacy  over  its  territory.  The  lands  mentioned 
in  the  document  are  said  to  have  included  pretty  much 
the  whole  of  the  Italian  peninsula  and  a  considerable 
strip  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Adriatic.  The  deed 
Nature  of  the  itself  is  lost,  so  that  we  shall  never  know 
donation.  jus^  what  was  in  it;  but  the  common  sense 
of  the  whole  business  seems  to  have  been  that  the  good 
King  Pippin  had  been  rather  loose  in  giving  to  the 
papacy  rights  over  lands  which  he  never  owned,  and 
could  not  therefore  very  well  give  away,  and  that  his 
son  found  this  a  cheap  way  of  putting  the  pope  in  a 
good-natured  state  of  mind.  To  grant  him  lands  meant 
hardly  more  than  this :  that  if  he  could  get  the  lands, 
the  king  would  see  that  he  was  not  disturbed  in  his 
possession  of  them.  The  fact  was  that  he  never  got 
the  most  important  part  of  these  lands,  and  that  as 
time  went  on,  his  successors  lost  more  and  more  of 
what  he  did  get.  The  papal  state  grew  but  slowly, 
and  very  much  as  other  states  grew,  by  conquest,  gift, 
or  purchase ;  and  these  grants  by  the  Frankish  kings 
really  conveyed  little  more  than  a  certain  guaranty  of 
possession.  And  yet  they  have  always  served  the  pa- 
pacy as  a  proof  that  the  chief  of  Christian  rulers  were 
willing  to  support  their  temporal  claims,  and  a  war  of 
words  has  arisen  among  scholars  as  to  the  true  mean- 
ing of  these  famous  documents.  Generations  after- 
ward, when  the  popes  had  come  to  make  much  greater 
claims  than  they  dared  to  make  in  Charlemagne's  time, 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  189 

they   brought   out   these    old   grants  to  support  their 
rights. 

Quite  as  important  is  the  price  which  the  popes  were 
willing  to  pay  for  their  lands.  Charlemagne  Charlemagne 
was  formally  given  the  same ^  tjtle^wiich  had  " Patricias " 
been  given  to  his  father,  "  Patricius "  of  °  ome' 
Rome,  whatever  that  might  mean.  We  saw  then  that 
it  might  mean  two  very  different  things :  either  that 
the  Patricius  was  the  sovereign  of  the  Roman  territory^ 
with  perhaps  an  implied  overlordship  of  the  Eastern 
Emperor,  or  that  he  was  only  the  military  defender  of 
the  Romans,  while  the  real  sovereignty  was  in  the  popes. 
Of  course  the  popes  were  inclined  to  the  latter  view; 
but  whatever  Charlemagne  may  have  thought  about  it 
at  the  time,  it  is  perfectly  clear  afterward  that  he  meant 
to  be  sovereign  in  Italy  just  as  much  as  he  was  in  Frank- 
land.  He  issued  laws,  appointed  officers,  and  saw  that 
the  government  went  on  as  regularly  there  as  here ;  and 
this  in  spite  of  often-repeated  reminders  that  the  popes 
were  not  getting  the  lands  he  had  promised  them. 

Conquest  of  Saxony. — While  Charlemagne  was  thus 
engaged  in  the  affairs  of  Italy,  he  was  called  off  by  a 
danger  in  the  far  North,  which  seemed  likely  to  become 
more  serious  than  any  he  had  yet  faced.  This  was  the 
Saxq^War.  From  the  year  772  to  803,  aj3eriod_of 
oyer  thirty  years,  this  war  was  always  on  the  programme 
of  the  Frankish  .policy,  now  resting  for  a  few  years,  and 
now  breaking  out  with  increased- fury,  until  finally  the 
Saxon_pe^ple^jmirja_Qjiii^ 

a  superior  foe,  gave  it  up,  and  became  a  part  of  the 
FranJdsh.  Empire.     This  conflict  is  altogether  the  most 


190  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

interesting  of  the  many  in  which  Charlemagne  was 
engaged.  It  was  carried  on  against  a  people  of  pure 
Germanic  stock,  who,  moreover,  had  never  changed  the 
seats  in  which  the  earliest  accounts  of  the  German 
races  find  them. 

The  Saxon  land  is  the  country  lying  along  the  lower 
The  Saxon  courses  of  the  Rhine,  Ems,  Weser,  and  Elbe, 
land.  anc[  extending  upward  from  the  seacoast  as 

far  as  the  low  mountains  of  Hessen  and  Thuringia. 
The  present  kingdom  of  Saxony  is  only  a  small  frag- 
ment of  this  great  territory.  At  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne, the  population  of  the  land  was  made 
up  of  descendants  of  the  very  people  whom 
Tacitus  describes  as  living  there  seven  hundred  years 
before.  If  we  may  believe  the  Frankish  historians,  — 
and  they  are  all  we  have,  —  the  life  of  these  people  had 
hardlyjchaxigecL.irom  that  of -.their  far-away  ancestors 
of  the  days  of  Tacitus.  They  had  escaped  the  dangers 
and  lost  the  advantages  of  contact  with  the  Romans, 
which  had  made  such  great  changes  in  their  brethren, 
the  Visigoths,  Franks,  Burgundians,  and  the  rest,  even 
before  they  actually  passed  on  to  Roman  soil.  They 
seem  to  have  kept  up  the  habit  of  living  in  small 
groups,  in  villages  rudely  fortified,  and  these  again 
grouped  into  cantons  or  districts,  under  the  somewhat 
loose  government  of  a  leader,  who  was  their  captain  in 
war  and  their  presiding  justice  in  time  of  peace.  There 
is  no  trace  of  any  royal  power,  such  as  we  see  plainly 
among^heFranks,  nor  even  of  governors  over  any  con- 
siderable extent  of  territory.  It  was  the  freest  sort  of 
political  life  imaginable.  The  only  change  that  we  can 
mark  with  any  certainty  is  the  development  of  a  very 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS.  191 

clearly  defined  nobility  of  rajik.  This  appears  from 
the  Saxon  Law,  which  we  have  already  caught  a 
glimpse  of  in  the  chapter  on  Germanic  laws.  The  wer- 
geld  of  the  Saxon  noble  was  enormously  greater  than 
that  of  the  same  class  in  the  other  laws. 

As  to  advance  in  anything  that  can  be  called  civili- 
zation, we  might  as  well  be  reading  the  stories  Their 
of  the  earliest  combats  between  the  Roman  civilization, 
legions  and  the  wild  barbarians  of  the  northern  forests. 
If  anything,  these  Saxons  were  less  affected  by  the  life 
of  the  South  than  those  earlier  tribes.  CJuistianity,jn 
spite  of  repeated  efforts  of  devoted  missionaries,  had 
made  no  progress  among^Jbliejn.  They  still  clung  to 
the  ferocious  mythology  of  the  North,  and  drew  from 
its  wild  legends  the  inspiration  for  their  desperate 
struggle  against  the  Frank. 

The  only  certain  trace  of  political  division  is  that 
into  three  branches :  the  Westphalians,  living  political 
between  Rhine  and  Weser ;  the  Engem  (An-  organization. 
grians),  along  both  sides  of  the  Weser ;  and  the  East- 
phalians,  between  Weser  and  Elbe.  Beyond  the  mouth 
of  the  Elbe  there  was  a  fourth  group,  of  less  distinct 
character,  called  the  North  Elbe  people.  But  although 
this  division  is  very  clear,  trTprp"  la  nn  aigri  of  piy  sepa- 
rate governments  along^theje^lines.  There  was  no 
duke  of  Westphalia  Or  ofEastphalia,  nor  do  we  get  any 
hint  of  anything  more  than  a  general  gathering  of  all 
Saxon  fighting  men  when  danger  was  pressing.  At 
other  times  the  ancient  jealousy  of  all  permanent  sover- 
eignty was  in  full  force. 

If,  in  speaking  of  the  Aquitanians  and  Lombards,  we 
had  to  regret  that  we  have  no  native  historian  to  give 


192  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

us  the  spirit  of  the  struggle  for  liberty  of  those  great 
peoples,  we  must  regret  still  more  that  no  Saxon  re- 
tained enough  of  the  pride  of  his  race  to  make 

Our  sources  ...        . 

wholly  use  of  the  civilization  of  the  conquerors  to 

record  the  tremendous  conflict  which  filled 
out  a  whole  generation  of  his  people's  life.  Not  only 
are  such  accounts  wanting,  but  when,  a  generation  or 
two  later,  Saxons  had  learned  the  arts  of  civilization, 
their  historians  could  find  no  better  material  than  the 
glorification  of  the  Frank  who  had  broken  the  power  of 
their  ancestors.  The  so-called  "  Saxon  Poet,"  who 
wrote  about  the  year  900,  simply  put  into  his  limping 
Latin  verse  the  Annals  of  Einhard,  written  originally 
as  a  sort  of  courtly  comment  on  the  career  of  Charle- 
magne ;  and  when,  some  half-century  later,  the  good 
monk  Widukind,  of  Corbei,  undertook  to  write  the  his- 
tory of  the  Saxon  race  in  a  true  historic  spirit,  he,  too, 
had  no  heart  for  the  real  meaning  of  the  great  strug- 
gle.1 To  him  and  all  his  kind  it  was  simply  a  process 
by  which  his  race  was  whipped  out  of  the  dangers  of 
heathendom  into  the  salvation  of  Christianity. 

1  "And  so  the  Saxons,  having  made  trial  of  the  varying  friendship  of 
the  Franks,  as  to  whom  I  need  not  speak  here,  since  it  may  be  found 
written  in  their  own  histories,  remained  bound  in  the  error  of  their 
fathers,  even  down  to  the  time  of  Charles  the  Great.  But  he,  the  most 
powerful  of  kings,  was  no  less  vigilant  in  his  care.  Being  more 
far-sighted  than  any  man  of  his  day,  he  thought  that  a  noble  nation, 
his  close  neighbor,  ought  not  to  be  held  in  a  vain  error,  and  pondered 
how,  by  any  means,  it  might  be  led  to  the  true  way.  Then,  using 
sometimes  mild  persuasion  and  sometimes  the  violence  of  war,  he 
finally  brought  them  to  it,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  reign.  So  that 
those  who  had  once  been  allies  and  friends  of  the  Franks,  were  now 
made  brothers,  and,  as  it  were,  one  race  in  the  Christian  faith,  as  we 
now  see  them."  —  Widukindi  Res  Gestae  Saxonicce,  I.  14,  15. 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF   THE  FRANKS.  193 

The  Frankish  historians  tell  us  that  the  immediate 
provocation  to  war  came  from  the  Saxons,  Early  border 
"  that  perfidious  race,"  who,  disregarding  all  warfare. 
former  treaties,  improved  the  opportunity  of  the  change 
of  government  in  Frankland  to  try  the  mettle  of  the 
new  king.  But  it  seems  very  clear  that  Charlemagne 
did  not  need  any  distinct  provocation.  The  borders  of 
the  two  races  ran,  as  Einhard  says,  in  a  low  and  open 
country,  so  that  the  temptation  to  border  warfare  was 
irresistible.  •  Long  before  the  time  of  Charlemagne  the 
rulers  of  the  Franks  had  seen  that  a  conflict  was  inevi- 
table.  Charles  Martel  and  Pippin  had  made  several 
expeditions  across  the  border,  and  had  gained  a  nominal 
allegiance  from  those  of  the  Saxons  who  were  nearest 
to  -the  danger.  When  Charles  Martel  sent  out  his 
summons  for  the  army  which  was  to  meet  the  Moham- 
medan invasion,  Saxon  troops  were  among  those  who 
answered  the  call.  But  there  is  no  sign  of  any  real 
subjection  of  the  people ;  and  the  loose  political  organi- 
zation of  the  race  made  it  possible  for  those  who  lived 
farther  from  the  frontier  to  remain  entirely  unaffected 
by  these  movements. 

We  have  very  little  account  of  the  military  opera- 
tions of  these  thirty  years  of  war.     In  the   «       i  h 
dim  records  of  the  time  we  see  the  heroic  acterofthe 
figure  of  Charlemagne,  as  the  champion  of     axon  war' 
civilization  and  oFreligion,  rushing  from  the  borders  of 
Spain   or   Italy   or  Bavaria  to  the  Saxon  frontier  and 
back  again_j  with  a  rapidity  which  makes  us  marvel  at 
his  resources.     Seldom,  in  this  whole  time,  did  he  come 
to  a  regular  battle  in  the  open  field  with  these  wild 
warriors  of  the  forest  and  the  swamp.     In  almost  every 


194  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

campaign  it  is  clear  that  the  uprising  was  confined  to  a 
small  part  of  the  Saxon  people,  and  that  conquering 
these  only  meant  that  in  the  next  spring  a  new  district 
might  rise  in  still  greater  strength.  Only  a  few  events 
have  come  down  to  us  as  faint  indications  of  the  sort 
of  people  with  whom  Charlemagne  had  here  to  deal. 
First  cam-  The  first  campaign,  in  the  spring  of  772,  was 
paign,  772.  brought  on  by  an  attack  of  the  Saxons  upon 
outlying  settlements  of  the  Franks  beyond  the  Rhine, 
near  the  modern  Hessen.  Charlemagne  hastened  to 
improve  the  opportunity,  for  which  he  had  long  been 
prepared.  With  a  considerable  force  he  passed  straight 
into  the  Saxon  territory,  attacked  a  fortress,  the  Eres- 
burg,  and  destroyed  it,  and  then  found  himself  near  a 
religious  centre  of  the  Saxon  people.  This  was  a 
^  .  shrine  of  some  sort,  called  the  "  Irmensaule," 

Destruction  7  <  ' 

of  the  probably  a  high  wooden  pillar  or  trunk  of  a 

rmensa  e.  tree,  regarded  as  a  sacred  object  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  neighborhood.  The  destruction  of  the  Irmen- 
saule was  the  declaration  of  war  against  the  religion  as 
well  as  the  nation  of  the  Saxons.  It  seems  to  have 
carried  terror  to  the  inhabitants  of  Westphalia,  who 
sent  ambassadors  to  beg  peace  of  the  conqueror,  and  to 
promise  to  abide  by  his  terms.  The  Franks  had  not 
yet  learned  to  distrust  their  enemies,  and  believed  they 
had  secured  at  least  the  western  part  of  the  Saxon 
land.  Charlemagne  withdrew  his  troops,  and  in  the 
following  year  was  called  away  by  the  events  in  Italy 
which  led  to  the  conquest  of  the  Lombards.  The  story 
of  this  first  Saxon  campaign  is  pretty  nearly  the  story 
of  all.  The  resistance  seems  to  have  come  from  only 
a  small  part  of  the  population,  of  course  the  younger 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  195 

fighting  men,  while  the  elders  —  "  Senatus,"  the  chroni- 
cles call  them  —  were  inclined  to  peace.  This  explains 
what  seemed  to  the  Franks  the  inexcusable  treachery  of 
the  Saxons.  The  persons  who  broke  the  treaties  were 
seldom  those  avIio  had  made  them.  The  young  war- 
riors drew  back  before  the  enemy,  and  hid  themselves 
in  distant  parts  of  their  own  country,  or  even  went  as 
far  as  the  hospitable  Danes,  to  wait  until  Charlemagne 
should  be  called  off  to  some  distant  part  of  Europe, 
when  they  gathered  their  forces  again  for  a  new  attack. 
The  story  of  the  Saxon  campaigns  is  accompanied,  as 
we  might  expect  from  such  writers  as  we  Miraculous 
have,  by  a  constant  series  of  miraculous  nar-  legends, 
ratives,  in  which  the  Franks  are  shown  to  be  under  the 
especial  divine  protection.  At  the  capture  of  the  Eres- 
burg,  the  Frankish  army  is  driven  to  desperation  by 
thirst,  when  suddenly,  at  the  critical  moment,  a  stream 
bursts  out  of  the  ground  and  relieves  their  suffering. 
After  the  Franks  had  gone,  leaving  only  a  few  garri- 
sons near  the  border,  the  heathen  gathered  their  num- 
bers again,  and  drove  one  of  these  garrisons  into  the 
church  of  Fritzlar.  The  feeble  band  of  Christians 
seemed  to  be  wholly  in  their  power,  and  they  were 
advancing  in  force  to  burn  the  building  and  all  its 
occupants,  when  suddenly  they  were  aware  of  two 
angels  in  white,  floating  in  the  air  above  the  church  to 
defend  the  helpless  garrison.  The  heathen  fled  in  ter- 
ror to  their  woods,  and  the  Christians,  coming  out  of 
the  church,  found,  kneeling  close  to  the  building,  a 
Saxon,  holding  a  torch,  and  bending  as  if  to  blow  the 
flame,  but  struck  lifeless  in  the  act,  and  stiffened  there 
as  a  visible  witness  of  the  divine  protection. 


196  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

It  was  doubly  difficult  to  make  a  permanent  conquest 
Difficulty  of  °f  an  enemy  which  melted  away  as  soon  as 
occupation.  ft  was  attacked,  and  which  was  always  ready 
to  give  assurances  of  peace,  without  apparently  "the 
slightest  intention  of  regarding  them  in  the  future.  It 
was  not  until  after  several  attempts  that  Charlemagne 
adopted  the  policy  of  leaving  in  the  conquered  districts 
a  sufficient  garrison  to  keep  them  in  subjection,  and  to 
make  them  a  base  of  supplies  from  which  further  con- 
quest might  be  attempted.  But  even  this  failed.  The 
garrisons  were  again  and  again  surrounded  and  com- 
pelled to  surrender.  On  one  occasion  the  soldiers 
of  the  fortress  of  Siegburg  had  gone  out  to  forage  for 
their  horses,  when  a  party  of  Saxons  came  up  with 
them,  and  began  to  talk  in  so  friendly  a  fashion  that 
the  Franks  invited  them  to  go  back  and  spend  the 
evening  in  their  camp.  At  bed-time  the  hosts  and 
guests  lay  down  together  for  the  night ;  but  the  guests 
had  not  come  to  sleep ;  they  drew  their  daggers  from 
beneath  their  cloaks,  and  murdered  right  and  left  the 
unsuspecting  Franks.  Such  outrages  called  for  ven- 
geance. If  it  had  been  possible  for  Charlemagne  to  do 
in  Saxony  what  his  father  had  done  in  Aquitaine,  to 
winter  in  the  country,  the  end  of  the  Saxon  war  might 
have  been  hastened  by  many  years.  But  we  have  to 
remember  the  tremendous  difficulties  of  maintaining  an 
army  in  a  country  where  the  small  amount  of  agricul- 
tural labor  must  have  been  made  even  smaller  by  the 
war.  The  wonder  is  that  Charlemagne  could  have  pro- 
longed his  campaigns  as  late  in  the  season  as  he  seems 
sometimes  to  have  done.     It  was  not  until  the  winter 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  197 

of  785  that  he  found  himself  able,  for  the  first  time,  to 
keep  the  army  in  camp  until  the  following  spring. 

The  campaign  of  776  marks  an  era  in  the  course  of 
the  war.      It  had  been   more  than  usually   „      ,    „ 

effective,   and  thousands   of   thpf   j>a,Yons   ha.d    Frankish 

come  to  the  camp  of  the  conqueror  to  receive  m  uence' 
baptism— and  to  acknowledge  his  supremacy.  Great 
numbers  of  Saxon  youths  had  before  this  been  taken 
by  the  Franks  as  hostages,  and  had  been  distributed 
throughout  Frankland  in  various  monasteries,  and  un- 
der the  care  of  men  who  should  instruct  them  in  the 
doctrines  of  Christianity  and  in  the  arts  of  civilization. 
Many  of  these  had  returned,  and  it  is  highly  probable 
that  "they  had  begun  to  exercise  an  influence  upon  their 
fellow-countrymen  more  potent  even  than  the  fear  of 
conquest.  One  is,  of  course,  inclined  to  doubt  the  sin- 
cerity of  these  conversions  in  mass ;  but  it  cannot  be 
concealed  that  as  the  war  went  on  there  was  a  steady 
progress  in  readiness  to  accept  the  Frankish  life  in 
place  of  the  ancient  forms.  And  this  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  annual  outbreaks  were  rather  gaining  than 
losing  in  their  intensity.  One  is  tempted  almost  to 
say,  in  modern  political  language,  that  there  was  a  dis- 
tinct Frankish  party  among  the  Saxons,  which  gained 
in  strength  with  every  successive  defeat  of  the  strict 
national  party. 

After  this  apparent  settlement  of  the  country,  Char- 
lemagne came  back  peacefully  in  the  spring,   _.  t  M  •*  ld 
and  for  the  first  time  held  the  great  assembly  in  Saxony, 
of  the  Franks  on  Saxon  soil,  at  Paderborn. 
As  yet  we  see  no  trace  of  any  violence  against  the  Sax- 
ons as  such.     They  were  assured  of  protection  and  of 


198  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

equal  treatment  before  the  law,  so  long  as  they  should 
remain  faithful  to  the  Frankish  king.  In  their  turn  they 
promised  that  land  and  liberty  should  be  forfeited  if 
they  failed  in  their  allegiance. 

From  Paderborn  Charlemagne  led  his  army  to  the 
"WiduMnd,  South,  for  a  campaign  against  the  Arabs  of 
778,  Spain.     Again  the   Saxon  war   burst   forth. 

For  the  first  time  we  see  a  single  leader  rallying  the 
forces  of  the  nation  about  him,  and  giving  by  his  per- 
sonal bravery  a  new  character  to  the  revolt.  Widu- 
kind  was  a  Westphalian  nobleman,  one  of  the  party 
most  firmly  attached  to  the  old  order  of  things,  and 
never  yet  included  in  the  treaties  made  by  the  party  of 
peace.  In  the  spring  of  778  he  emerges  from  the  ob- 
scurity of  the  North,  and  rouses  the  whole  Saxon  coun- 
try to  furious  revenge.  All  the  lands  occupied  by  the 
Franks  were  recovered,  and  their  cause  seemed  lost 
forever.  Charlemagne  heard  of  these  events  in  South- 
ern Gaul,  on  his  return  from  Spain.  He  hastily  sent 
forward  the  troops  drawn  from  the  regions  nearest  the 
Saxon  border,  and  these  were  sufficient  to  drive  the 
enemy  back  into  his  retreats.  He  himself 
followed  in  the  early  spring,  and  found  no 
serious  opposition  to  his  march.  At  Paderborn  he 
again  held  the  assembly  of  the  Franks  for  780.  It  was 
perhaps  at  this  meeting  that  the  document  was  issued 
which  has  come  down  to  us  under  the  name  of  the 
"Capitulary  concerning  the  Saxon  Territory."  Evi- 
dently Charlemagne  considered  Saxony  as  a  conquered 
country,  and  thought  the  time  had  come  when  he 
might  safely  go  on  with  his  plans  for  making  it  dis- 
tinctly a  part  of  the  Christian  Frankish  kingdom. 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  199 

By  far  the  greatej^]3artj}f Jth^.J^KSJn_^isjOa^itulary 
have  reference  to  the  affairs  of  the  Church.'  The  oapitu- 
The  whole   reorganization   of  Saxon  society  W/'depar- 
,  ,     ,      .      n     ^n    •  ,  •    "        t^  tibus  Saxon- 

was  to  be  on  the  basis  01  a  Christian,  a  Kom-  ^u 

ish  Christian,  community.  As  the  armies  of  780, 
Charlemagne  had  advanced,  new  centres  of  church  life, 
abbeys,  and  bishoprics  had  been  founded ;  and  when  they 
had  been  permitted  for  a  time  to  remain  undisturbed, 
had  done  more  to  bring  parts  of  the  Saxon  population 
into  harmony  with  Prankish  ideas  than  the  military 
garrisons.  The  object  of  the  new  legislation  was  to 
give  to  these  clerical  foundations  the  leading  part  in 
the  work  of  civilization.  The  churches  are  to  enjoy 
the  same  sanctity  which  had  formerly  attached  to  the 
shrines  of  the  heathen  worship.  They  are  to  be  asy- 
lums for  criminals ;  whoever  offends  against  them  or 
the  worship  which  is  to  go  on  in  them  shall  suffer  punish- 
ments such  as  were  already  familiar  in  the  criminal  law  of 
the  Saxons  themselves.  The  murderer  of  a  clergyman, 
of  whatever  rank,  shall  not  be  allowed  to  pay  any  wer- 
geld,  but  shall  suffer  death ,  and  the  same  penalty  shall 
fall  on  him  who  breaks  into  a  church  for  the  purpose 
of  theft,  or  who  sets  a  church  on  fire.  So  human  sacri- 
fice and  the  burning  of  any  person  as  a  witch  bring 
death  to  the  culprit.  Whoever  tries  to  avoid  baptism 
and  desires  to  remain  a  pagan,  whoever  after  the 
heathen  custom  burns  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  even 
those  who  eat  meat  during  Lent,  are  worthy  of  death. 
Whoever  conspires  with  the  heathen  against  the  Chris- 
tians, or  enters  into  a  plot  against  the  king,  or  breaks 
his  faith  with  the  king,  let  him  die. 

These  are  terrible  laws,  and  they  have  often  brought 


200  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

the  charge  of  inhuman  cruelty  upon  their  author ; 
but  we  must  remember  that  they  were  intended  to 
Severity  of  secure  the  allegiance  of  a  barbarous  and  but 
the  new  law.  half-conquered  people.  Furthermore,  we 
cannot  understand  them  without  noticing  carefully  this 
additional  clause :  whoever  shall  be  guilty  of  any  of 
these  crimes,  and  shall  then  of  his  own  free  will  confess 
to  o  priest  and  do  penance,  shall  escape  the  penalty  of 
death.  One  sees  how  immensely  this  provision  must 
have  tended  to  increase  the  authority  of  the  priest,  and 
thus  to  further  the  object  which  Charlemagne  had  most 
at  heart.  All  children  were  to  be  baptised  within  a 
year;  the  dead  were  to  be  buried  in  the  church-yards, 
and  not  in  the  old  burial  places  of  the  heathen.  No 
courts  of  justice  or  other  meetings  for  temporal  affairs 
were  to  be  held  on  Sunday.  The  support  of  the  new 
churches  is  to  be  provided  for  by  grants  of  land ;  and 
above  all,  every  man,  no  matter  what  his  rank,  is  to 
pay  one-tenth  of  his  yearly  income  to  the  same  end. 

The  administration  of  all  this  machinery  is  to  be  in 
Government  l^ThamtiT  of  counts  (eomites),  at  first  prob- 
by  "Counts."  aDiy  Franks,  but  later  Saxons,  who  are  to 
live  in  the  several  districts,  and  to  be  the  representa- 
tives of  the  king  there.  The  murderer  of  a  count  and 
all  his  accomplices  are  to  lose  all  their  property  and 
become  the  serfs  of  the  king.  The  count  is  to  preside 
at  the  regular  judicial  assemblies  oF  the  people,  and 
they  are  not  to  assemble  at  any  other  time,  unless  sum- 
moned by  the  king.  The  private  law  of  the  Saxons  is 
not  to  be  changed.  This  legislation  was  only  designed 
to  meet  the  new  circumstances  of  the  conquest.  Other- 
wise the  people  were  to  live  as  they  had  done.     Its 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS.  201 

chie|_  object  was  j^ainly  to  defend  the  clergy  and  the 
officers  of  the  king  in  their  unwelcome  and  dangerous 
taskT  of  aducating^-a-pc oplc  -  up  to  the  Christian  stan- 
dards of  public  life. 

For  about  two  years  after  the  Capitulary  of  Pader- 
born  things  seem  to  have  gone  on  smoothly  Outbreak  of 
enough,  at  least  on  the  surface.  But  this  782- 
enforj3g(L_submission  to  the  exacting  terms  of  the  new 
religion,  above  all,  to  the  taxation,  to  which  they  were 
unaccustomed,  and  which  must  have  been  exceedingly 
oppressive  to  them,  kept  alive  the  old  discontent ;  and 
when  Widukind,  in  the  year  782,  set  up  his  banner 
again,  he  found  plenty  of  fighting  men  ready  to  follow 
hirm  A  rebellion  of  the  Slavonic  tribes  between  the 
Elbe  and  the  Saale  broke  out  at  the  same  moment,  or 
was,  perhaps,  worked  up  by  the  Saxon  leader  as  a 
diversion.  A  Frankish  army,  sent  against  these  ene- 
mies in  the  East,  was  attacked  by  the  Saxons  near 
the  Siintel  Mountains,  and  terribly  defeated.  Charle- 
magne's blood  was  up.  Hitherto  he  had  been  Massacre  at 
mild,  perhaps  to  a  fault.  Now  his  policy  Ver<len, 
must  be  changed.  He  moved  rapidly  at  the  head  of 
his  reserves  into  Eastphalia,  and  as  usual  drove  all  be- 
fore him.  In  a  short  time  the  country  seemed  pacified 
once  more.  Charlemagne  called  an  assembly  of  the 
Saxons,  reminded  them  of  their  oaths  at  Paderborn, 
and  called  upon  them  to  hunt  out  and  deliver  up  to 
him,  as  prisoners  of  war,  the  rebels  who  had  so  shame- 
fully violated  their  promises.  The  strength  of  the 
Frankish  influence  in  the  country  was  proved  by  the 
success  of  this  summons.  In  a  short  time  forty-five 
hundred  of  these  warriors,  the  soul  of  the  Saxon  resist- 


202  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

ance,  were  brought  to  the  village  of  Verden,  and  hand 
ed  over  to  the  conqueror.     In  one  day,  without  judge 
or  jury,  these  unarmed  warriors  were   mur- 
dered in  cold  blood.     This  massacre  of  Ver- 


den is  the  darkest  spot  upon  the  fame  of  Charlemagne. 
It  may,  perhaps,  be  justified  by  the  necessity  of  the 
occasion  and  the  greatness  of  the  end  he  had  in  view. 
Evidently  he  had  determined  that  the  Saxon  opposi- 
tion could  be  broken  only  by  the  use  of  every  means  of 
terror.  Its  best  justification,  however,  is  in  the  fact 
that  it  is  the  only  recorded  instance  of  that  form  of 
pressure  in  the  long  career  of  Charles.  It  is  inconsist- 
ent with  his  whole  policy,  both  before  and  afterward, 
and  seems  to  be  its  own  evidence  that  he  regarded  the 
circumstances  as  every  way  exceptional,  and  therefore 
as  demanding  exceptional  measures. 

The  immediate  effect  was  quite  the  opposite  of  that 
Th  r  f  which  he  had  expected.  The  part}r  which 
vengeance,       had  delivered  up  the  warriors  had  doubtless 

783 

done  so  in  the  belief  that  they  would  only 
be  carried  off  as  others  had  been  before  them,  and  settled 
in  the  monastery  lands  of  the  Franks.  The  slaughter 
of  Verden  reminded  them  that  these  victims  had  after 
all  been  their  countrymen,  and  roused  them  to  a  share 
in  avenging  them.  Or>p,f>  mm-p.  Wiflukind  sw^^ps  down 
from  the  North  with  a  great  following  of  allied  North- 
men, and  all  Saxony  owns  him  as  its  leader.  All  dif- 
ferences seem  for  the  moment  to  have  disappeared,  and 
for  the  first  time,  the  army  which  the  Franks  found 
opposed  to  them  was  truly  a  national  army,  fired  by  the 
feeling  of  revenge,  and  strong  in  a  common  hatred  of 
the  invader.     The  first  shock  took  place  at  Detmold, 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  203 

near  the  line  of  the  Weser,  and  in  spite  of  desperate 
resistance,  the  Saxons  were  driven  from  their  position, 
and  Charles  returned  to  his  camp.  As  soon  as  he  could 
be  ready  again,  he  once  more  marched  against  the  en- 
emy, now  drawn  up  along  the  river  Hase ;  and  there 
again,  in  open  battle,  the  superiority  of  the  Frankish 
arms  was  proved.  These  battles  are  especially  note- 
worthy, as  being  the  only  battles  in  the  open  field 
fought  by  Charlemagne,  in  his  whole  long  military 
career,  —  a  fact  which  curiously  illustrates  the  charac- 
ter of  early  mediaeval  warfare. 

The  next  two  years  were  spent  in  following  up  the 
victories  of  783.     For  the  first  time,  in  the  0       .     . 

-__  '  Surrender  of 

winter  of  784-5,  the  king  wintered  on  Saxon  Widukind, 
soil,  at  Eresburg,  and  in  the  spring  summoned 
his  General  Assembly  at  Paderborn.  At  this  assembly 
of  785  the  most  dangerous  man  in  Saxony,  the  heroic 
Widukind,  put  himself  in  the  hands  of  the  conqueror, 
and  promised  allegiance.  In  the  following  spring  he 
went  bacFwith  the  army  to  Attigny,  in  France,  and  was 
there  baptized.  From  that  moment  he  disappears  from 
history ;  but  legend  has  seized  upon  him,  and  has  made 
him  the  ancestor  of  the  great  reigning  house  of  Capet. 

The  settlement  of  Saxony  went  on,  with  occasional 
military  episodes,  by  the  slower,  but  more  Settlement  of 
certain,  processes  of  education  and  religious  Saxony, 
conversion.  It  appears  to  us  to  be  anything  but  wise 
to  force  a  religion  upon  a  people  at  the  point  of  the 
sword ;  but  the  singular  fact  is,  that  in  tAvo  generations 
there  was  no  more  truly  devout  Christian  people,  ac- 
cording to  the  standards  of  the  time,  than  just  these 
same  Saxons.    A  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  from 


204  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF   THE  FRANKS. 

the  time  when  Charlemagne  had  thrashed  the  nation 
into  unwilling  acceptance  of  Frankish  control,  the 
crown  of  the  Empire  he  founded  was  set  upon  the 
head  of  a  Saxon  prince. 

The  progress  in  friendly  relations  between  the  two 
The  peoples  is  seen  in  the  second  of  the  great 

''Capituium      ordinances  by  which  Saxon  affairs  were  regu- 

Saxomcum,"  J  #       ° 

797.  lated.      This   edict,    called    the    "Capitulum 

Saxonicum"  was  published  after  a  great  diet  at  Aachen, 
in  797,  at  which,  we  are  told,  there  came  together  not 
only  Franks,  but  also  Saxon  leaders  from  all  parts  of 
their  country,  who  gave  their  approval  to  the  new  leg- 
islation. The  general  drift  of  these  new  laws  is  in  the 
direction  of  moderation.  The  terrible  ""punishments 
common  to  the  earlier  law,  and  to  the  traditions  of  the 
Saxons  themselves,  are  reduced  in  number,  and  are  made 
subject  to  appeal  to  the  king.  The  object  of  this  legis- 
lation was,  now  that  the  armed  resistance  seemed  to  be 
broken,  to  give  the  Saxons  a  government  which  should 
be  as  nearly  as  possible  like  that  of  the  Franks.  The 
absolute  respect  and  subjection  to  the  Christian  Church 
is  here,  as  it  was  formerly,  kept  always  in  sight.  The 
churches  and  monasteries  are  still  to  be  the  centres 
from  which  every  effort  at  civilization  is  to  go  out. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  real^agency  in  this 
The  Saxon  whole  process  was  the  organized  Church, 
hishoprics.  The  fruit  oi^"tlier^^T™aITralu3e"  between 
Frankish  kingdom  and  Roman  papacy  was  beginning  to 
be  seen.  The  papacy  was  ready  to  sanction  any  act  of 
her  ally  for  the  fair  promise  of  winning  the  great  terri- 
tory of  North  Germany  to  her  spiritual  allegiance.  The 
most  solid  resul^of  fllft  caapaigM  nf  ^Hfiiflag-"?  wim 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS.  205 

the  founding  of  the  great  bishopries  of  Minden,  Pader- 
born,  Verden,  Bremen,  Osnabriick,  and  HTalberstadt. 

A  line  of  earnest  and  devoted  men  offered  themselves 
for  the  hard  and  often  dangerous  work  of  maintain- 
ing here  in  the  wilderness  centres  of  light  and  truth. 
About  these  bishoprics,  j^  on  the  whole,  the  safest 
places,  me^TcafiaeJa-seti^ — Roads  were  built  to  con- 
nect them ;  markets  sprang  up  in  their  neighborhood ; 
and  thus  gradually,  during  a  development  of  centuries, 
great  cities  grew  up,  which  came  to  be  the  homes  of 
powerful  and  wealthy  traders,  and  gave  shape  to  the 
whole  politics  of  the  North.  Saxony  was  become  a 
part  of  the  Frankish  Empire,  and  all  the  more  thor- 
oughly so,  because  there  was  no  royal  or  ducal  line 
there  which  had  to  be  kept  in  place. 

Conquest   of    Bavaria.  —  Bavaria   was    and   is   the 

land  on  both  sides  of  the  Danube,  at  the  point  The  land  and 
where  it  reaches  farthest  toward  the  north,  the  people, 
near  the  city  of   Regensburg.     It  had  been  settled  by 
various  German  tribes  which  had  remained  here  after 
the  storms  of   the  migrations,  and  its  population  was 
therefore  not  of   the  same  unmixed   character   which 
we  found  in  Saxony.     The  land  of  Bavaria  had  more- 
over been  partly  occupied  by  Roman  settlers,  and  this 
had   given    the    new   population    a   tinge  of   Romanic 
blood.      Roman  Christianity  had  early  made  progress 
here,  and  Boniface,  the  active  agent  of  Rome,  had  left 
in   Bavaria  a  system  of  monasteries  and  churches  to 
carry  on  his  work.     The  state  of  things  there   ^e  dncai 
was  not  unlike   that  in  the   Frankish  king-  Power- 
dom  itself,  and  this  likeness  was  still  further  shown  in 


206  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

the  form  of  government.  Just  as  in  Frankland  there 
had  grown  up  a  succession  of  well-recognized  kings, 
with  certain  very  definite  rights  of  sovereignty,  so  in 
Bavaria  a  ducal  power  had  been  developed,  which 
might  as  well  have  called  itself  royal,  for  all  the  dif- 
ference there  was  in  its  hold  upon  the  people.  This 
ducal  power  was  in  the  hands  of  the  great  family  of 
the  Agilolfings,  whose  hold  on  the  affections  of  the 
people  was  clearly  shown  in  the  events  we  are  about 
to  follow. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  kings  of  the  Franks 
Causes  of  looked  with  jealousy  on  the  growth  of  this 
offence,  great  independent  German  nation,  close  on 

tho  borders  of  Italy,  and  touching  their  own  territory 
along  the  head  waters  of  the  river  Main.  We  remem- 
ber that  King  Pippin  had  carried  the  war  into  Bavaria, 
and  that  the  duke  Tassilo,  defeated  in  battle,  had  come 
to  Pippin,  laid  his  hands  in  those  of  the  king  and 
sworn  by  the  mightiest  oaths  to  be  his  man.  Later, 
however,  when  Pippin  had  called  him  to  his  help  in 
the  Aquitanian  war,  he  had  not  appeared,  and  there 
had  not  been  time  for  the  king  to  follow  up  the  offence. 
The  early  years  of  Charlemagne's  reign  were  too  full 
of  other  matters  to  allow  him  to  return  to  the  question 
of  Bavaria,  but  when  he  had  conquered  the  Lombards, 
and  had  made  such  progress  in  Saxony  that  he  thought 
the  country  reasonably  safe,  he  began  to  consider  that 
here  was  an  obstacle  to  his  complete  control  of  the 
German  races.  Bavaria  came  in  like  a  wedge,  between 
Saxony  on  the  north  and  Italy  on  the  south.  Besides 
this,  there  was  a  line  of  very  dangerous  non-German 
tribes  living  along  the  lower  Danube,  and  in  order  to 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF   THE  FRANKS.  207, 

hold  these  in  check  it  was  necessary  first  to  have  posses- 
sion of  Bavaria.  In  the  year  781  Charlemagne,  with 
the  sanction  of  the  pope,  sent  word  to  the  duke  Tas- 
silo  that  he  must  renew  the  oath  of  vassalage  which  he 
he  had  made  to  King  Pippin.  Tassilo  consented  with- 
out opposition  and  came  to  the  Frankish  assembly  at 
Worms,  where  he  took  the  required  oath  and  gave  hos- 
tages as  security. 

But  troubles  very  soon  began.  The  national  feeling 
was  strong  in  Bavaria;  the  wife  of  Tassilo  Bavarian  cam- 
was  a  daughter  of  Desiderius,  king  of  the  paignof787, 
Lombards,  and  sister  of  Charlemagne's  rejected  wife, 
and  is  said  to  have  made  things  uncomfortable  for  the 
duke,  until  he  declared  that  lie  would  no  longer  abide 
by  such  ^ndit-i™?*--  as  Jbe^had  made.  "  If  I  had  ten 
sons,"  he  cried  in  his  wrath,  "  I  would  rather  lose  them 
all  than  let  that  treaty  stand  as  it  is.  I  would  rather 
die  than  live  thus."  Charlemagne  heard  of  this  rebel- 
lious feeling  while  he  was  still  in  Italy,  and  laid  the 
matter  before  his  assembly  at  Worms  in  the  spring  of 
787.  With  the  approval  of  his  "noBles,  he  sent  his  son 
Pippin  with  an  army  from  Italy,  a  contingent  of  Saxon 
and  East-Frankish  troops  from  the  North,  and  advanced 
himself  with  a  third  army  from  the  Rhine.  We  see  in 
this  movement  how  great  was  the  military  advantage 
to  Charlemagne  of  the  conquests  he  had  already  made. 
Tassilo  saw  at  once  that  resistance  was  hopeless,  and 
sent  to  sue  for  peace.  Charlemagne,  "by  nature  un- 
usually gentle,"  granted  his  request  on  con-  Surrenderof 
dition  that  he  should  not  only  take  a  new  Tassilo, 
oath  of  allegiance,  but  should  actually  sur- 
render his  duchy  into  the  power  of  the  Franks.      He 


208  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

did  this  by  offering  to  the  king  a  staff  on  which  the 
figure  of  a  man  was  carved,  and  receiving  this  staff 
again  as  a  gift  from  the  hand  of  Charlemagne.  This 
act  meant  the  end  of  independent  sovereignty  inTBa- 
varia.  Tassilo  returned  to  his  country,  but  within  a 
year  he  was,  with  how  much  justice  we  cannot  tell, 
summoned  again  before  the  king,  and  accused  of  vio- 
lating his  allegiance.  The  old  charge  that  he  had 
deserted  King  Pippin  in  his  hour  of  need  was  brought 
up  against  him,  and  he  was  declared  guilty  of  the 
dreadful  crime  of  "herisliz,"  or  desertion,  the  most 
serious  known  to  the  ancient  law.  The  penalty  of 
this  crime  was  death,  but  Charlemagne  pardoned  Tas- 
silo, and  only  caused  him  to  have  his  head  shaved,  and 
to  be  buried  alive  in  a  monastery.  The  same  sentence 
was  inflicted  upon  his  wife  and  son,  and  thus  the  house 
of  the  Agilolfings  made  harmless  for  the  future.  The 
government  of  Bavaria  was  put  into  the  hands  of 
Frankish  counts,  and  the  country  formally  declared  a 
part  of  the  Frankish  kingdom. 

Only  once  again  does  the  pathetic  figure  of  Duke 

Tassilo  appear  upon  the  scene.     Six  years 

later,  at  the  great  Assembly  of  Frankfort,  he 

is  brought  out  from  his  retreat,  and  compelled  once 

more  to  go  through  the  form  of  confirming  the  grant 

of  Bavaria  to  the  Franks. 

Thus,  without  a  blow,  by  a  mere  show  of  force, 
Value  of  th  Charlemagne  had  accomplished  his  great  de- 
Eastem  sire.     He  had  now  control  over  an  unbroken 


line  of  Germanic  peoples,  reaching  from  the 
Baltic  to  the  Alps,  and  forming  a  wall  of  defence 
against   the   countless   masses   of  heathen,  Slavs   and 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  209 

Mongols,  who  were  pressing  ever  harder  upon  them 
from  the  East.  The  Eastern  border  of  the  Frankish 
land  was,  roughly  speaking,  the  line  of  the  Elbe  and 
Saale ;  but  neither  at  this  time,  nor  for  centuries  later, 
could  this  border  be  definitely  described.  It  was  a 
shifting  line,  varying  with  the  strength  of  the  forces 
on  either  side,  but  with  a  constant  tendency  to  move 
farther  and  farther  backward  toward  the  East,  as  the 
Christian  powers  of  the  West  gained  in  unity  and 
vigor. 

Beginning  at  the  North,  we  find  the  Slavonic  people 
of  the  Abodriti  early  in  alliance  with  the  The  Eastern 
Franks  against  the  Saxons,  and,  after  the  "Marks." 
expulsion  of  the  North-Elbe  people,  allowed  by  the 
conqueror  to  move  into  the  vacated  lands.  Next  them 
on  the  South  came  the  Wilzi  and  the  Sorbi,  long  hos- 
tile to  the  Franks,  but  gradually,  by  arms  and  treaties, 
brought  into  a  partial  subjection,  so  that  they  could  be, 
at  least  a  part  of  the  time,  counted  upon  to  hold  back 
the  tide  of  barbarian  invasion  from  still  farther  East. 
Between  these  and  the  Bavarian  frontier  lay  the  Bohe- 
mians, also  a  Slavonic  race,  whose  name  has  remained 
to  this  day  on  the  land  they  occupied.  The  part  played 
by  these  border  peoples  in  the  building  of  Europe  has 
not  been  enough  emphasized.  The  necessity  of  hold- 
ing them  in  subjection  caused  the  Frankish  officers 
who  were  stationed  on  the  border  to  be  persons  of  espe- 
cial  importance.  The  border  lands  themselves^  so  far 
as  they  were  controlled  by  the  Franks,  were  called 
" marks^and  these  officers  "counts  of  the  The  "Mark- 
mark"  (markgraferi).  They  Tiadr~tcM5e  en-  grafen." 
trusted  with  large  and  permanent  armies,  and  the  pros- 


210  CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

pect  of  almost  constant  warfare  drew  to  them  all  the 
restless  fighting  men  who  looked  to  war  as  their  means 
of  advancing  in  the  world.  Furthermore,  it  was  not 
possible,  with  safety  to  the  border,  to  change  very  often 
men  who  had  become  identified  with  the  interests  of 
the  lands  they  governed;  and  thus  there jgrew  up  in 
these  border  districts  a  series  of  powerful  families,  who 
to  a  great  extent  came  to  take  the  place  of  the  local,  du- 
cal powers  which  Charlemagne  had  everywhere  put 
down.  It  was  largely  through  the  rise  of  these  powers 
that  the  centralized  institutions  of  Charlemagne  which 
we  are  now  studying  went  to  pieces.  All  this  belongs  to 
later  history ;  but  we  could  not  really  understand  the 
meaning  of  what  Charlemagne  was  doing  without  this 
little  glimpse  into  the  future. 

One  of  the  charges  made  against  the  unhappy  Tassilo 
had  been  that  he  had  joined  with  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  of  these  strange  peoples 
against  his  lord.  The  Avars  were  a  race  jprobably  re- 
lated to  the  ancient  Huns  and  to  the  Hungarians  of 
modern  times,  as  well  as  to  the  Finnish  peoples  of  the 
Baltic  shore.  They  had  come  into  the  great  plain  of 
the  middle-J^ajoube,  and  were,  at  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne, pressing  hard  upon  the  Bavarian  frontier. 
Whether  Tassilo  had  been  in  treasonable  negotiation 
with  them  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  immediately  after 
his  deposition  they  made  an  attack  at  the  same  time 
upon  Bavaria  and  on  the  Mark  of  Friuli  to  the  South. 
These  attacks  were  repulsed  by  the  Bavarians  them- 
selves ;  but  very  soon  a  renewed  assault  called  for  the 
valor  of  Charlemagne.  In  the  summer  of  791  he  moved 
down  the  Danube,  through  Bavaria,  and  encamped  on 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.  211 

the  river  Enns,  the  boundary  between  the  Bavarians 
and  the  Avars.  Here,  says  the  chronicle,  the  con  ered  b 
army  spent  three  days  in  prayer  for  their  Charlemagne, 
success,  and  then  declared  the  war.  In  a 
brief  campaign  they  ~  destroyed ^  4he.._d^fences  of  the 
Avars,  andwasted  their  country  with  fire  and  sword. 
Various  chieftains  of  the  race  sentmTheTF¥ul5hiission, 
and  were  accepted  as  a  part  of  the  subjects  of  the  king- 
dom of  the  Franks.  It  will  be  noticed  here  that  no 
effort  was  made  to  Christianize  the  conquered  people 
by  any  such  process  as  had  been  applied  in  Saxony. 
The  way  was,  it  is  true,  opened  for  Christian  mission- 
aries to  carry  on  their  work  in  comparative  safety ;  but 
it  is  very  evident  that  Charles  did  not  feel  himself 
called  upon  to  make  this  a  main  object  with  any  other 
peoples  than  those  of  Germanic  blood. 

In  this  same  connection  we  may  notice  that  very 
considerable  territories  along  the  East  of  Bavaria  and 
Northern  Italy,  the  countries  of  Istria  and  Dalmatia, 
submitted  voluntarily  to  the  control  of  Charlemagne, 
but  upon  the  demand  of  the  Eastern  Empire  were  later 
readily  given  up  to  it  without  compensation.  It  seems 
clear  that  Charlemagne  did  not  wish  to  get  all  he 
could  and  to  keep  all  he  got,  but  that  his  ambition  was 
limited  to  the  lands  of  Germanic  races,  over  all  of 
whom  he  proposed  to  fix  his  sovereignty  and  that  of 
the  Roman  Church  by  a  title  that  should  never  be 
questioned. 

The  Spanish  Mark.  —  The  same  facts  seem  to  be 
illustrated  by  his  treatment  of  the  North  of  Spain. 
At  the  first  assembly  of  the  Franks  on  Saxon  soil  in 


212  CHARLEMAGNE  KINO   OF  THE  FRANKS. 

the  year  777  at  Paderborn,  ambassadors  of  certain 
Arab  chiefs  had  come  from  Spain  and  offered  to 
Charles  the  sovereignty  of  their  lands  if  he  would 
support  them  in  their  political  troubles  with  the  Mo- 
hammedan Caliph  of  Cordova. 

This  northern  part  of  Spain  was  quite  as  much  Ger- 
manic land  as  the  South  of  Gaul.  It  had  been  for  gen- 
erations under  the  control  of  the  West-Goths  until  the 
Arab  invasion  of  the  early  part  of  the  eighth  century 
had  broken  their  sovereignty,  though  it  had  probably 
not  very  much  changed  the  character  of  the  population. 
Charlemagne  therefore  saw  in  a  Spanish  expedition  the 
opportunity  to  set  free  from  the  oppression  of  heathen 
rulers  a  race  once  thoroughly  Christian  and  German. 
In  the  following  spring  he  set  out  with  a  great  army 
through  Aquitaine  and  Gascony,  and  advanced  over  the 
Pyrenees  as  far  as  Saragossa,  beyond  the  Ebro.  He 
seems  to  have  met  with  little  resistance,  but,  for  rea- 
sons we  cannot  understand,  he  determined  to  make  no 
further  advance,  and  began  his  retreat.  In  the  country 
between  the  Ebro  and  the  Pyrenees  he  established 
Frankish  garrisons,  and  organized  the  administration 
as  he  had  done  elsewhere.  In  the  passage  of  the  moun- 
ThePassof  tains,  at  the  famous  pass  of  Roncesvalles, 
Roncesvaiiea.  \^  rear-guard  was  attacked  by  Gascon  gue- 
rillas and  thrown  into  utter  rout.  One  of  the  chroni- 
cles says,  "In  this  battle  Roland,  count  of  Brittany, 
was  slain,"  and  that  is  all  the  historical  record  we  have 
of  a  man  whose  name  has  been  taken  up  by  legend,  and 
made  more  famous,  perhaps,  than  any  other  of  the  day, 
excepting  that  of  the  great  king  himself.  The  perma* 
nent   result  of   the    Spanish  expedition  was  that   the 


CHARLEMAGNE  KING   OF  THE  FRANKS.  213 

whole  North  of  Spain  became  subject  to  Frankish  con- 
trol under  the  name  of  the  Spanish  Mark.  This  was 
the  first  step  in  the  process  of  recovering  the  soil  of 
Spain  from  the  hated  Moor,  which  lasted  down  into  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  ended  with  that  Conquest  of 
Granada,  which  our  own  Irving  has  so  eloquently 
described. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

FOUNDATION   OF  THE   MEDIEVAL    EMPIRE. 

Authorities: — As  above  for  Chapter  XIII. 
Modern  Works:  —  James  Bryce:  The  Holy  Roman  Empire.— 
Milman ;  Greenwood ;  The  Church  Histories. 

We  have  thus  far  been  considering  Charlemagne  as 
the  head  of  the  Frankish  nation.  He  was,  by  consent 
of  the  j^ople^^king  of  the  Franks.  He  had  won  his 
victories  with  Frankish  arms,  and  he  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  conquered  countries  in  the  name  of  the 
Frankish  people.  Every  step  which  he  had  taken  had 
been  with  the  advice  and  consent^pj^jhejiajian  assem- 
bled~lli  the"  great  meetings  of  the  springtime,  and  his 
public  documents  carefully  express  the  share  of  the 
nation  in  his  great  achievements.  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Lombardy,  Aquitaine,  the  Spanish  Mark,  all  these  great 
countries,  lying  outside  the  territory  of  Frankland 
proper,  had  been  made  a  part  of  its  possession  by  the 
might  of  his  arm  and  the  wisdom  of  his  counsel.  But 
when  this  had  all  been  done,  the  question  arose,  by 
what  right  he  should  hold  all  this  power,  and  secure  it 
so  that  it  should  not  fall  apart  as  soon  as  he  should  be 
gone.  As  king  of  the  Franks  it  was  impossible  that 
he  should  not  seem  to  the  conquered  peoples,  however 
mild  and  beneficent  his  rule  might  be,  a  foreign  prince ; 
and  though  he  might  be  able  to  force  them  to  follow 


gtruthers  &  Co.,  Engr's,  N.Y. 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         215 

his  banner  in  war,  and  submit  to  his  judgment  in  peace, 
there  was  still  wanting  the  one  common  interest  which 
should  bind  all  these  peoples,  strangers  to  the  Franks 
and  to  each  other,  into  one  united  nation. 

About  the  year  800  this  problem  seems  to  have  been 
very  much  before  the  mind  of  Charlemagne.  Charlema  , 
If  we  look  at  the  boundaries  of  his  kingdom,  power 
reaching  from  the  Eider  in  the  north  to  the  unpena ' 
Ebro  and  the  Garigliano  in  the  south,  and  from  the  ocean 
in  the  west  to  the  Elbe  and  the  Enns  in  the  east,  we 
shall  say  as  the  people  of  his  own  time  did,  u  this  power 
is  Imperial."  That  word  may  mean  little  to  us,  but  in 
fact  it  has  often  in  history  been  used  to  describe  just 
the  kind  of  power  which  Charlemagne  in  the  year  800 
really  had,  a  power  of  great  extent,  and  held  over 
peoples  so  different  in  race  and  political  tradition  that 
they  could  only  be  kept  together  by  some  single  rule 
which  was  large  enough  to  include,  without  destroying, 
all  their  inherited  governments.  The  idea  of  empire 
includes  under  this  one  term,  kingdoms,  duchies,  or 
whatever  powers"  might  be  in  existence;  all,  however, 
subject  to  some  one  higher  force,  which  they  feel  to  be 
necessary  for  their  support.  To-day,  for  instance,  there 
is  the  Empire  of  Germany,  formed  in  the  year  1870,  and 
including  the  kingdoms  of  Prussia,  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Wuertemberg,  the  Grand-duchy  of  Baden,  Grand-duchies 
of  Mecklenburg,  and  many  other  independent  govern- 
ments. So,  ever  since  the  great  expansion  of  England, 
many  persons  like  to  talk  about  the  British  Empire, 
because  England  has  the  rule  over  so  many  different 
and  widely  scattered  races. 

Bat  where  was  the  model  upon  which  Charlemagne 


216        FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMpIrE. 

might  build  his  new  empire  ?  Surely  nowhere  but  in 
that  great  Roman  Empire  whose  western 
representative  had  been  finally  allowed  to 
disappear  by  Odoacer  the  Herulian  in  the  year  476. 
We  saw  that  after  Odoacer  the  Eastern  Empire,  with 
its  capital  at  Constantinople,  still  lived  on,  and  claimed 
for  itself  all  the  rights  which  had  belonged  to  both 
parts.  That  Eastern  Empire  was  still  alive  at  the  time 
of  Charlemagne.  We  have  met  with  it  once  or  twice  in 
our  study  of  the  Franks.  Even  Clovis  had  been  tickled 
with  the  present  of  the  title  of  Consul,  sent  him  by  the 
Eastern  Emperor ;  and  from  time  to  time,  as  the  Franks 
had  meddled  with  the  affairs  of  Italy,  they  had  been 
reminded  that  Italy  was  in  name  still  a  part  of  the  Im- 
perial lands.1  We  remember  that  it  was  because  of  the 
weakness  of  the  Empire  in  Italy  that  the  papacy  had 
been  obliged  to  call  upon  the  Franks  for  help.  The 
feeble  protest  of  the  Emperors  had  had  no  effect  what- 
ever upon  the  determined  men  who  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  make  the  Frankish  power  so  useful  to  the 
popes  that  they  could  not  get  on  without  it. 

But  now,  when  Charlemagne  himself  was  thinking  of 
Conliilifiiab  taking  the  title  of  Emperor,  he  found  him- 
two  Soman  self  forced  to  meet  squarely  the  question, 
mperors  whether  there  could  be  two  independent 
Christian  Emperors  at  the  same  time.  One  way  out  of 
this  problem  would  have  been  by  a  union  of  the  two  in 
one  hand,  and  such  seems  to  have  been  the  object  of 

1  The  relation  of  all  the  Germanic  conquerors,  from  Alaric  to  Al- 
boin,  toward  the  government  of  the  Empire  seems  to  have  been  one  of 
practical  independence,  no  matter  how  carefully  guarded  by  the  pre- 
tence of  alliance,  subjection,  or  employment. 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         217 

negotiations,  which  had  for  some  time  been  going  on 
between  the  two  courts,  for  a  marriage  between  the 
king  of  the  Franks  and  Irene,  the  Empress  of  the  East. 
We  have  only  one  mention  of  this  business,  and  it 
seems  to  be  so  out  of  harmony  with  the  policy  of 
Charlemagne  in  other  respects,  that  we  may  well  doubt 
whether  he  had  any  very  serious  intentions  upon  the 
crown  of  the  East.  Probably  later  events  served  to 
magnify  matters  which  would  otherwise  have  attracted 
little  notice.  The  solution  was  to  be  a  very  different 
one. 

On  Christmas  Day,  in  the  year  800,  Charlemagne  was 
at  Rome.  He  had  gone  thither  at  the  re-  Ooronation  of 
quest  of  the  Pope  Leo,  who  had  been  accused  Charlemagne, 
of  dreadful  crimes  by  his  enemies  in  the  city,  8°°- 
and  had  been  for  a  time  deprived  of  his  office.  Charle- 
magne had  acted  as  judge  in  the  case,  and  had  decided 
in  favor  of  Leo.  According  to  good  Teutonic  custom, 
the  pope  had  purified  himself  of  his  charges  by  a  tre- 
mendous oath  on  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  had  again  as- 
sumed the  duties  of  the  papacy.  The  Christmas  ser- 
vice was  held  in  great  state  at  St.  Peter's.  While 
Charlemagne  was  kneeling  in  prayer  at  the  grave  of 
the  Apostle,  the  pope  suddenly  approached  him,  and  in 
the  presence  of  all  the  people,  placed  upon  his  head  a 
golden  crown.  As  he  did  so,  the  people  cried  out  with 
one  voice,  "  Long  life  and  victory  to  Charles  Augustus, 
the  mighty  Emperor,  the  Peace-bringer,  crowned  by 
God !  "  Einhard,  who  ought  to  have  known,  assures  us 
that  Charles  was  totally  surprised  by  the  coronation, 
and  often  said  afterward  that  if  he  had  known  of  the 
plan  he  would  not  have  gone  into  the  church,  even 


218        FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE. 

upon  so  high  a  festival.  It  is  altogether  probable  that 
the  king  had  not  meant  to  be  crowned  at  just  that  mo- 
ment and  in  just  that  way;  but  that  he  had  never 
thought  of  such  a  possibility  seems  utterly  incredible. 

By  this  act  Charlemagne  was  presented  to  the  world 
_     ,  4.     ,  as  the  successor  of  the  ancient  Roman  Em- 

Foundation  of 

the  new  perors  of  the  West,  and  so  far  as  power  was 

Empire.  concerned,  he  was  that.     But  he  was  more. 

His  power  rested,  not  upon  any  inherited  ideas,  but 
upon  two  great  facts:  first,  he  was  the  head  of  the 
Germanic  Race;  and  second,  he  was  the  temporal 
head  of  ffilPTfliristian  Church.  The  new  empire 
which  lie  founded  rested  on  these  two  "'foundations. 
He  was  a  German,  every  inch  of  him,  and  yet  he  was 
called  upon  to  do  a  thing  which  was  against  every  in- 
stinct of  the  ancient  Germanic  liberty.  It  is  this  con- 
flict of  two  aims  in  the  work  of  Charlemagne  which  has 
made  among  scholars  so  much  contention  as  to  his 
real  ideas  of  government.  Some  have  declared  that  he 
was  a  thorough  Roman,  feeling  himself  to  be  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  Caesars,  and  trying  to  make  his  rule  as 
much  like  theirs  as  possible ;  others  have  said  that  he 
was  a  pure  German,  and  wished  to  make  Germanic 
ideas  alone  the  basis  of  the  new  empire.  Both  these 
views  are  wrong,  because  they  both  go  too  far.     Like 

every  other  leader  of  men,  Charlemagne  had 
both  Eomanic  t°  work  with  the  materials  and  the  tools  which 
and  Germanic  ne  found  ready  for  him.     His  material  was 

the  Germanic  race,  as  he  found  it,  mingled 
with  the  remnants  of  Romanized  people  in  the  South, 
or  preserved  in  all  its  unspoiled  purity  of  blood  and 
tradition  in  the  North.     Now,  up  to  his  time  there  had 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL  EMPIRE.         219 

never  been  a  great  united  Germanic  government.  It 
seemed  to  be  just  as  much  in  the  nature  of  Germans  to 
live  in  scattered  and  independent  groups  as  it  was  in 
the  nature  of  Romans  to  unite  under  one  great  govern- 
ment. This  tendency  to  break  up  into  little  states, 
and  to  grow  weaker  all  the  time  by  internal  warfare, 
was  the  chief  evil  which  Charlemagne  had  to  meet; 
and  he  met  it  by  calling  in  the  help  of  the  other  great 
tradition,  whose  memory  was  still  kept  alive  in  Europe  — 
the  tradition  of  Rome.  So  that,  when  we  look  at  some 
of  his  acts,  it  seems  as  if  his  interest  were  wholly  in 
preserving  German  institutions ;  and  when  we  look  at 
others,  he  seems  to  be  trying  to  follow  Roman  models 
as  closely  as  possible. 

We  shall  understand  these  matters  better  by  examin- 
ing some  of  the  arrangements  for  the  govern-  centralizing 
ment  of  his  great  empire,  which  were  made  institutions. 
in  the  years  between  800  and  814.     Almost  the  first 
act  of   the  new  emperor  was  to  demand  from  every 
man  in  the  Empire  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  him  as  em- 
peror, which  should  take  the  place  of  all  other  oaths  for- 
merly sworn  to  him  as  king,  and  should  be  superior  to  all 
other  bonds  of  faith  to  any  other  person  whomsoever. 
Thus  every  man  was  to  feel  himself  in  a  personal  rela- 
tion to  the  Emperor.     The  officers  of  the  Emperor,  to 
carry  out   this   intention,  were  the   counts   whom  we 
Lave  already  met.     In  the  northern  Germanic  countries 
the  counts  were  placed  over  considerable  districts,  the 
former   cantons    (gaue)    of  the   tribes.     In   the   more 
southern  Romanic  countries  they  were  made 
governors   of    cities..     But    wherever    they 
were,  they  were  the  hand  and  voice  of  the  king.    What- 


220         FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE. 

ever  they  did  was  done  in  his  name,  and  no  local  inter- 
est could  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  their  ac- 
tion. We  should  expect  to  find  great  resistance  to 
officers  so  entirely  in  opposition  to  the  ancient  usages 
of  the  conquered  races ;  but  the  fear  of  Charlemagne's 
arms  and  the  advantage  of  his  protection  seem  to  have 
been  great  enough  to  secure  him  a  very  large  share  of 
popular  devotion.  The  great  danger  was  that  his  own 
officers,  by  staying  a  long  time  in  one  region,  would 
become  attached  to  the  people  there,  and  would  try  to 
set  up  for  themselves  an  independent  government.  If 
we  consider  how  hard  it  was  to  get  from  Aachen  or 
Ingelheim  to  the  borders  of  Saxony  or  Bavaria,  we  can 
understand  that  a  count  in  these  distant  parts  might  go 
very  far  on  the  road  to  treason  before  he  could  be  dis- 
covered and  punished.  This  danger  became  evident  to 
Charlemagne  pretty  early  in  his  course,  and  he  tried 
to  meet  it  by  an  arrangement  which  was  quite  new 
to  Germanic  ideas,  and  which  was  perhaps  the  most 
famous  of  his  whole  administration.  The  trouble  with 
the  counts  was  the  fixedness  of  their  position  in  a 
certain  territory.  It  would  have  been  possible  for  the 
king  to  appoint  them  for  a  year  only,  and  then  put 
them  in  some  other  place ;  but  this  would  have  been  a 
loss  of  power  in  other  ways,  and  so,  instead  of  changing 
the  counts  about,  he  made  another  set  of  officers,  whose 
business  it  was  to  travel  over  the  whole  empire,  and 
see  to  it  that  the  counts  were  carrying  on  their  work 
The "  Missi  properly.  These  officers  were  called  "Missi 
Dominioi."  dominici"  the  king's  messengers.  They  were 
generally  sent  out  in  pairs,  a  bishop  and  a  count  to- 
gether, and  their  duty  was  to  examine  into   all   the 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL  EMPIRE.         221 

affairs  of  government,  the  administration  of  justice,  the 
equipment  of  the  army,  the  maintenance  of  churches 
and  schools,  the  collection  of  taxes ;  in  short,  all  that 
the  emperor  himself  would  have  looked  out  for  if  he 
had  been  able  to  be  in  every  parT*oT  "his  gl'eat  empire 
at  once.  Then  they  were  to  come  back  and  make  a 
report  of  all  they  had  done.  You  will  see  that  the 
effect  of  this  must  have  been,  as  that  of  the  common 
oath  was,  to  make  every  man  feel  himself  in  close  rela- 
tions with  the  Emperor,  almost  as  if  he  had  been  imme- 
diately under  his  eye. 

We  have  enough  documents  of  the  time  to  show  us 
that  these  officers  were  really  for  a  time  what  Decline  of  the 
they  were  meant  to  be,  the  eyes  of  the  Em-  "Missi." 
peror.  Later,  when  the  dangerous  tendencies  we  have 
noticed  had  begun  to  make  themselves  felt,  the  first 
sign  was  in  the  gradual  falling  away  of  the  institution  of 
the  lord's  messengers,  until  they  entirely  disappear.  It 
must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  these  acts  of 
Charlemagne  were  done  in  the  spirit  of  an  irresponsible 
tyrant.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  assured  at  every  step 
that  he  acted  with  the  support  of  his  people,  The  yearly 
and  more  especially  in  harmony  \vith  the  assemblies. 
Church.  This  harmony  with  the  nation  and  the  Church 
was  kept  up  by  the  system  of  yearly  assemblies,  to  which 
we  have  often  referred.  These  assemblies  were  gener- 
ally two,  one  in  the  spring  or  summer,  usually  called 
the  Maifeld  (Field  of  May),  and  one  in  the  autumn. 
These  were  not,  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  representa- 
tive bodies,  for  there  was  nothing  like  an  election  to 
them,  such  as  we  have  for  our  legislatures,  but  every 
freeman  had  the  right  to  appear  and  have  his  say  there. 


222        FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  tell  anywhere  nearly  how 
many  freemen  of  the  Franks  took  advantage  of  this 
right;  but  from  the  fact  that  very  often  the  assembly, 
having  determined  upon  war,  simply  broke  up  and 
went  to  fight  the  war  for  itself,  we  may  conclude  that 
often,  at  least,  pretty  nearly  the  whole  available  fight- 
ing force  of  the  nation  came  to  discuss  the  great  mat- 
ters of  common  interest.  At  other  times,  when  war 
was  not  immediately  threatening,  we  suppose  that  only 
the  leading  men  came  to  these  meetings ;  but  that  did 
not  make  the  decisions  any  the  less  binding  on  the 
whole  nation. 

These  same  assemblies  were  also  councils  of  the 
The  assemblies  Church.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Charle- 
aiso  councils,  mifgiie,  while  feeling  himself  the  servant  of 
the  Church,  believed  that  he  could  serve  it  best  by  gov- 
erning it.  We  come  here  to  a  question  which  proved 
to  be  one  of  the  most  important  for  the  future  of  Eu- 
rope. What  sort  of  mutual  rights  and  duties  were 
.       founded  by  the  coronation  of   Charles  as  a 

Questions  be-  J 

tween  Empire    Roman  Emperor  ?    Did  the  fact  that  the  pope 

and  Papacy.      jm(j  crowne(1   him  g[ye  £0  the  p0pe  a  right  of 

control  over  his  actions,  on  the  principle  that  he  who 
gives  the  authority  is  greater  than  he  who  receives  it? 
Or,  on  the  other  hand,  was  Charles  by  the  coronation 
placed  above  all  other  powers,  above  the  pope  as  well 
as  the  rest?  Furthermore,  what  were  the  rights  of  the 
pope  as  head  of  the  Christian  Church,  over  the  clergy 
of  the  Empire?  Could  he  appoint  and  remove  bishops? 
Could  he  hear  their  appeals  from  the  decisions  of  their 
local  councils,  or  should  such  appeals  come  to  the  Em- 
peror?   All  these  were  questions  which  probably  no  one 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         223 

thought  of  at  the  time,  but  which  in  the  course  of  a 
century  had  come  to  be  asked  and  answered  with  the 
greatest  violence  of  feeling  on  both  sides.  There  was 
not  a  country  of  Europe  in  the  later  Middle  Ages  which 
did  not  suffer  long  and  bitter  struggles  before  these 
consequences  of  the  coronation  of  Charlemagne  came 
to  a  final  settlement.  If  the  papacy  had  the  rights  we 
have  suggested,  then  all  the  powers  of  the  states  of 
Europe  over  their  own  lands  and  their  own  subjects 
were  in  danger.  Let  us  see  how  Charles  him-  Cliarles  head 
self  looked  at  this  problem.  There  can  be  of  the  Frank- 
little  doubt  that  his  devotion  to  the  Church  ish  01mrcl1, 
was  as  far  as  possible  from  a  slavish  subserviency  to  it. 
At  the  great  assemblies  of  the  Frankish  clergy  he  pre- 
sided. The  summons  to  them  went  out  in  his  name, 
and  the  decisions  were  signed  and  sanctioned  by  him. 
Just  as  in  the  year  325  we  saw  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tine  summoning  the  doctors  of  the  Church  to  Nicsea, 
presiding  over  their  discussions,  and  urging  them  to 
make  a  decision  which  should  settle  once  for  all  the 
question  as  to  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  so  in  the 
year  794  we  see  Charlemagne  calling  upon  the  alleged 
heretic,  the  bishop  Felix  of  Urgella  in  Spain,  to  appear 
before  the  great  Assembly  at  Frankfort  and  defend  his 
doctrine. 

At  this  same  council  he  gave  a  new  proof  of  his  inde- 
pendence in  regard  to  the  great  question  of  ,  ,  , 
the  worship  of  images  (the  "  iconoclastic  "  at  Frankfort, 
controversy).  A  council  almost  wholly  com- 
posed of  Eastern  bishops  had  been  held  at  Nicsea  in  787 
and  had  passed  very  strong  resolutions  in  favor  of  using 
images  in  the  churches,  not  merely  for  ornament,  but 


224        FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL   EMPIRE. 

for  adoration.  The  Pope  Hadrian  promptly  ratified 
these  decrees,  and  sent  them  with  his  approval  to 
Charlemagne.  In  reply  the  king  published  a  document 
which  has  become  famous  under  the  name  of  the  "  Libri 
Carolini."  This  document,  prepared  by  Frankish  cler- 
gymen at  the  direction  of  the  king,  takes  ground  on  the 
question  of  images  directly  opposed  to  the  pope,  and  in 
language  bordering  upondisrespect,  declares  the  views 
of  the  late  Nicene  council,  which  the  pope  had  just  ap- 
proved, to  be  false  and  pernicious.  The  king  forbids 
his  Frankish  subjects  to  show  to  the  sacred  images  any 
form  of  worship  or  service  whatever,  and  this  opinion 
was  confirmed  at  the  council  of  Frankfort.  The  pope 
found  it  convenient  not  to  enter  into  any  quarrel  with 
the  Frankish  Church,  but  to  trim  his  sails  between  the 
breezes  from  the  East  and  West  as  wisely  as  he  might. 
Again,  in  the  year  806,  when  men  were  debating  the 
serious  problem  of  the  "  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
the  question  which  more  than  any  other  divided  the 
Greek  Church  from  the  Roman,  we  see  the  Emperor 
calling  another  great  council  at  Aachen  and  settling  this 
point  forever,  as  far  as  the  church  of  his  empire  was 
concerned. 

And  when  we  look  at  the  every-day  matters  of  the 
Appoints  Church  in  Frankland,  we  see  him  equally 
clergy.  prompt   and   decided.     The  appointment  of 

bishops  went  through  his  hands,  though,'  in  some 'cases 
at  least,  the  consecration  to  office  was  performed  at 
his  request  by  the  pope.  Over  and  over  again  we 
hear  of  him  making  every  possible  effort  to  keep  the 
clergy  up  to  a  high  standard  of  learning  and  virtue, 
and  a  hard  time  he  had  of  it.     When  it  came  to  his 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         225 

knowledge  that  very  many  of  the  Frankish  clergy  could 
not  read  the  services  they  repeated  by  rote,  Enforces 
he  determined  that  this  evil  should  be  education, 
stopped,  and  sent  to  urge  upon  the  heads  of  churches 
and  monasteries  everywhere  to  establish  schools,  and  to 
see  to  it  that  the  youth  of  their  districts  should  be' 
kept  under  instruction  until  a  learned  ministry  should 
be  provided. 

We  have  seen  that  efforts  were  made  in  the  time  of 
Charles  Martel  and  Pippin,  especially  under  closer  Church 
the  direction  of  Boniface,  to  organize  the  organization. 
Frankish  churches  into  a  firm  and  compact  body,  de- 
pendent upon  Rome  as  its  sovereign  head.  In  spite  of 
these  efforts  we  see  clearly  from  the  legislation  of  Charle- 
magne that  there  was  not  yet  very  much  of  fixedness 
in  these  matters.  The  separate  churches  were  going 
each  its  own  way  without  any  regular  subjection  to 
any  higher  clerical  power.  The  key  to  the  problem 
seemed  to  be  to  fix  on  certain  of  the  larger  churches 
as  archbishoprics,  and  give  them  authority  over  a  fixed 
number  of  bishoprics,  then  to  strengthen  in  every  way 
the  hold  of  the  bishop  over  the  churches  in  his  diocese, 
and  thus  to  provide  a  complete  system  of  orders  by 
which  the  lowest  clergyman  was  bound  to  the  head  of 
the  Church.  In  cases  of  difficulty  there  would  then  be 
a  perfectly  clear  line  of  appeal  from  the  bishop  to  the 
archbishop,  then  to  the  provincial  synod,  and  so  to  the 
king.  This  fixed  order  in  the  Church  corresponded, 
we  see,  to  Charlemagne's  plan  for  the  State.  It  was  a 
monarchical  system  designed  to  bring  the  power  of  the 
king  close  to  every  clergyman  just  as  the  new  plans 
for  government  were  designed  to  bring  every  subject 
layman  into  close  connection  with  the  royal  will. 


226         FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  the  great  archbishoprics,  of 
The  great  Mainz  for  the  Main  valley  and  Eastern  Sax- 
archbishoprics.  011y?  0f  Cologne  for  the  lower  Rhine  country 
and  Western  Saxony,  of  Treves  for  Gaul,  and  of  Salz- 
burg for  Bavaria  were  organized.  Henceforth  there 
kwas  to  be  no  doubt  where  every  church  in  the  Frank- 
ish  empire  was  to  look  for  guidance  and  instruction  in 
all  matters  pertaining  to  its  varied  interests.  These 
archbishoprics  continued  for  centuries  to  be  the  cen- 
tres of  the  church  life  of  the  North.  Their  holders 
became  princes  of  the  empire,  with  sometimes  more 
than  princely  revenues  and  powers.  As  the  country 
became  more  settled,  new  archbishoprics  were  gradually 
created  and  supplied  with  lands,  usually  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  older  foundations.  Thus  Hamburg 
Bremen  in  the  far  North,  Magdeburg  in  Saxony, 
Prague  in  Bohemia,  rose  to  be  equally  important  with 
the  older  seats. 

There  was,  however,  one  very  marked  exception  to 
T,  the  general  purpose  of  these  plans.     We  have 

monasteries  seen  already  how  hard  it  was  to  keep  the 
in  epen  ent.  monasteries  in  subjection  to  the  bishops  of 
the  dioceses  in  which  the  monasteries  jnight  be  placed. 
This  difficulty  seems  to  have  been  too  much  for  Charle- 
magne. At  all  events,  he  gave  so  many  and  so  great 
privileges  to  the  monasteries  in  all  parts  of  his  king- 
dom, that  they  were  thus  made  practically  independent 
sovereigns  over  their  lands,  and  also  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  internal  affairs.  It  would  not  be  unusual 
for  an  abbot  in  the  later  time  of  Charlemagne  to  have 
from  twenty  to  forty  thousand  subjects  living  on  the 
lands  of  his   monastery.     The   bishops   struggled  and 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         227 

protested,  but  the  monasteries  proved  to  be  such  a  con- 
venient balance  to  the  too  great  powers  of  the  bishops, 
that  neither  pope  nor  king  could  afford  to  lose  their 
support,  and  the  question  thus  started  became  one  of 
the  most  bitter  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Middle 
Ages. 

The  respect  due  from  laymen  to  clergymen  was  im- 
pressed by  every  possible  means.  The  wer-  Respect  for 
geld  of  the  bishop  was  one-half  higher  than  tte  clergy, 
that  of  the  count,  whose  social  equal  he  was.  Gifts  of 
lands  and  privileges  were  showered  upon  the  clergy 
with  the  utmost  liberality.  They  were  the  advisers 
of  the  court,  the  friends  and  daily  companions  of  the 
king.  The  point  to  be  especially  borne  in  mind  is  that 
this  duty  to  the  Church  was,  in  the  plan  of  Charle- 
magne, the  duty  which  a  man  owes  to  a  great  trust, 
not  the  duty  which  a  servant  owes  to  his  master.  If 
we  can  clearly  understand  this,  it  will  clear  up  for  us 
many  of  the  darkest  places  in  the  history  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  • 

The  quality  of  the  literature  in  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne is  the  proof  that  there  was  then  going  „    .  , 
on   a   revival   of    interest   in   the    study   of  care  for 
the  classical  authors,  and,  indeed,  of  all  that    l  era  ure' 
made  up  the  learning  of  that  day.     During  the  Mer- 
ovingian  period   the    Frankish    people   had  been   too 
busy  with  the  immediate  demands  of  their  new  life  to 
have  time  or  interest  for  the  things  of  the  intellect.     It 
had  been  a  time  of  tremendous  physical  effort  in  the 
making  of  new  states  out  of  the  ruins  of 
the   old  civilization.      The  ancient  Roman 
education  had  probably  never  been  entirely  exterminated, 


228        FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL   EMPIRE. 

at  least  in  those  countries  where  it  had  taken  firmest 
root.  Probably  there  never  was  a  time  when  learned 
men  had  not  continued,  here  and  there,  in  obscurity 
and  neglect,  to  carry  on  the  traditions  of  a  better 
time.  But  these  feeble  lights  had  not  shone  beyond 
their  own  immediate  surroundings,  and  we  do  not 
know  even  the  names  or  the  homes  of  these  forgotten 
scholars.  Learning  cannot  prosper  until  it  is  made 
respectable,  and  the  only  respectable  thing  for  the 
Merovingian  Frank  to  do  was  to  fight.  Even  the 
monasteries  were  not,  as  we  have  seen,  originally 
intended  as  homes  of  learning,  and  there  were  those 
Monastery  wno  thought  it  a  dangerous  sign  of  the 
schools.  times  when  those  who  had  vowed  their  lives 

to  God  began  to  take  up  the  study  of  the  heathen 
authors.  But  as  society  began  to  be  a  little  more 
orderly  after  the  horrible  civil  strife  of  the  descend- 
ants of  Clovis,  and  especially  when  the  majors  domus 
of  the  house  of  Pippin  began  to  make  themselves  felt 
as  a  new  force  working  for  order  and  union,  then  the 
first-fruits  of  better  government  began  to  show  them- 
selves in  the  form  of  a  revived  learning.  It  has  always 
been  reckoned  one  of  the  highest  traits  of  the  genius 
of  Charlemagne,  that,  in  the  midst  of  the  multitudi- 
nous duties  of  warfare  and  legislation,  he  never  forgot 
these  higher  and  deeper  interests  of  the  intellect.  In 
directing  the  bishops  and  abbots  of  the  Empire  to  estab- 
lish schools  for  the  youth  of  their  neighborhoods,  he 
The"Scola  set  them  a  brilliant  example  by  gathering 
Palatina,"  together  a  group  of  teachers  at  his  own 
court,  and  opening  there  a  school  where  the  youth  of 
noble  family  might  get  the  very  best  instruction  the 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL  EMPIRE.         229 

day  afforded.1  Einhard,  the  author  of  the  "Life  of 
Charlemagne,"  was  his  secretary  and  intimate  friend, 
was  even  made  by  legend  to  marry  a  daughter  of  the 
Emperor.  Alcuin  was  an  Englishman,  the  foremost 
scholar  of  his  day.  Charlemagne?  found  him  in  Italy, 
ancTpersuaded  him  to  come  to  his  court,  where  he  be- 
came the  head  of  the  court-school,  and  had  the  widest 
influence  upon  the  culture  of  the  generation.  Paul 
the  Deacon  was  a  Lombard,  and  at  the  suggestion  of 
Charlemagne  wrote  at  great  length  the  history  of  the 

1  The  Monk  of  St.  Gall  thus  describes  the  interest  which  the  Em- 
peror took  in  his  schools  :  — 

"  When  the  victorious  Karl,  after  a  long  absence,  returned  to  Gaul, 
he  sent  for  the  boys  whom  he  had  intrusted  to  Clement,  and  bade  them 
show  him  their  compositions  and  poems.  The  boys  of  low  and  middle 
station  brought  him  theirs  sweetened  beyond  all  expectation  with  every 
charm  of  wisdom,  but  the  high-born  showed  only  quite  poor  and  use- 
less stuff.  Then  Karl,  the  wise  king,  followed  the  example  of  the 
eternal  Judge,  placed  the  good  workers  upon  his  right  hand,  and  spoke 
to  them  as  follows :  '  Many  thanks,  my  sons,  that  you  have  taken  such 
pains  to  carry  out  my  orders  to  the  best  of  your  ability  and  to  your 
own  profit.  Try  now  to  reach  perfection,  and  I  will  give  you  splendid 
bishoprics  and  monasteries,  and  you  shall  be  highly  honored  in  my 
sight.' 

"  Thereupon  he  turned  his  face  in  wrath  against  those  upon  his  left, 
smote  their  consciences  with  his  fiery  glance,  and  burst  out  with  terri- 
ble scorn,  more  thundering  than  speaking,  in  these  words :  '  You  high- 
born sons  of  princes,  you  pretty  and  dainty  little  gentlemen,  who 
count  upon  your  birth  and  your  wealth,  you  have  disregarded  my 
orders  and  your  own  reputations,  have  neglected  your  studies,  and 
spent  your  time  in  high  living,  in  games  and  idleness,  or  foolish  occu- 
pations.' Then  he  raised  his  majestic  head  and  his  unconquered  right 
hand  to  heaven,  and  cried  in  a  voice  of  thunder  with  his  usual  oath, 
'By  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  I  care  little  for  your  noble  birth  and  your 
pretty  looks,  though  others  think  them  so  fine ;  and  let  me  promise  you 
this :  if  you  do  not  make  haste  to  make  good  your  former  negligence 
by  careful  diligence,  never  think  to  get  any  favors  from  Karl.' " 


230         FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL  EMPIRE. 

Lombard  nation.  Angilbert  and  Theodulf  were  poets, 
who  have  left  us  the  best  specimens  of  what  men  were 
able  in  that  day  to  do  in  imitation  of  the  literary  art  of 
Rome. 

For  after  all,  this  literature  was  all  an  imitation.  There 
The  literature  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Germans  in,  the 
an  imitation,  time  of  Charlemagne  had  a  great  poetic  litera- 
ture of  their  own,  not  put  in  writing,  but  sung  from 
mouth  to  mouth.  It  was  no  doubt  all  about  their  gods 
and  heroes,  a  wild,  tremendous  epic,  wanting  only  the 
grace  and  beauty  to  be  equal  to  the  mythology  of 
Greece.  One  cannot  help  wondering  what  would  have 
come  of  it  if  a  new  Ulfilas  had  arisen  among  the  Franks, 
to  take  their  rude  language  and  give  it  a  written  form. 
Or  if  the  Saxons  had  conquered  in  the  great  struggle 
with  the  Franks,  and  out  of  that  conquest  a  national 
enthusiasm  had  been  kindled  which  should  have  taken 
just  enough  of  the  learning  of  Rome  to  give  form  to 
their  tradition  without  taking  the  life  out  of  it,  we 
might  perhaps  have  seen  a  development  in  the  North  of 
Europe  which  should  compare  favorably  with  that  of 
Greece  itself. 

All  this  was  checked  by  the  victory  of  Roman  Chris- 
tianity. The  language  of  Rome  had  a  virtue 
tianity  checks  wEIch  made  even  the  heathen  authors  who 
German  devel-  haci  written  its  masterpieces  indispensable  to 

opment.  . 

all  teaching.  So  that  when  a  new  education 
came  to  grow  up  on  the  basis  of  this  Roman-Christian 
culture,  it  found  itself  bound  to  the  Latin  language 
as  its  only  model  and  its  only  vehicle  of  expression. 
Any  attempt  to  revive  the  ancient  language,  even  for 
the  expression  of  Christian  ideas,  would  have  seemed 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         231 

dangerous  to  the  eager  missionaries  who  wished  to  keep 
Rome  and  all  that  was  Roman  as  much  as  possible  before 
the  minds  of  the  barbarians.  The  simple  fact  that  the 
worship  of  the  Church  was  all  cast  in  Latin  forms  would 
be  enough  of  itself  to  explain  why  men  turned  with  a 
blind  readiness  to  the  classic  authors  for  their  models 
and  spent  the  best  years  of  their  lives  in  learning  a 
language  which  they  could  never  speak  or  write  with 
perfect  ease  or  correctness. 

Yet  Charlemagne  himself,  with  all  his  Roman  tenden- 
cies, seems  to  have  had  a  very  quick  sympathy  0,  .  , 
with  all  that  was  best  in  the  national  life.  He  Germanic 
caused  the  legends  of  the  Germanic  peoples  symPat  ies" 
to  be^coITected,  but  what  use  he  made  of  this  collection 
we  do  not  know ;  it  has  disappeared.  He  did  the  same 
with  the  laws  of  the  tribes,  and  as  these  were  actually 
necessary  for  the  daily  use  of  the  courts,  they  were  pre- 
served, and  have  come  down  to  us  in  a  very  complete 
form.  Einhard  especially  praises  in  his  hero  that  he 
wore  by  preference  the  ancient  dress  of  the  Franks,  and 
only  donned  the  more  elegant  garments  of  the  Romans 
on  special  occasions.  But  these  seem  to  have  been  only 
the  expressions  of  a  sentiment  which  did  not  find  its 
way  into  the  more  important  matters  of  administration. 
For  instance,  Charlemagne  ordered  that  all  priests  should 
teach  their  people  the  creed  and  the  Lord's  prayer  in  the 
common  tongue  as  well  as  in  Latin,  and  had  translations 
made  of  considerable  parts  of  the  Bible ;  but  we  see  no 
hint  that  he  would  for  a  moment  have  thought  of  put- 
ting the  German  in  place  of  the  Latin.  Precisely  at  this 
point,  where  alone  such  an  influence  might  have  been 
successful,  he  showed  himself  to  be  wholly  in  the  drift 
of  the  Roman  policy. 


232        FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL  EMPIRE. 

Enough  of  what  Charlemagne  did  not  do  or  might 
-_„  have  done.     What  he  did  do  was  to  set  in 

Yet  Roman 

culture  motion  an  impulse  which  gave  the  character 

prevai  s,  £o  ^ie  w]10je  media3val  education.  For  nearly 
five  hundred  years  after  his  time  almost  all  that  was 
written  by  learned  men  in  Europe  was  written  in 
Latin.  And  the  result  was  that  the  learned  produc- 
tions of  that  time  were  probably  worth  less  to  the 
world  than  what  was  produced  in  any  other  period  of 
equal  length  since  civilization  began.  Men  can  only 
produce  things  worth  having  when  they  act  themselves, 
and  they  cannot  act  themselves  when  they  are  tied  down 
to  a  language  which  is  not  the  language  of  their  daily 
and  hourly  thoughts.  It  is  not  a  question  of  one  lan- 
guage being  better  than  another.  The  excellence  of 
any  language  depends  upon  the  thoughts  to  be  con- 
veyed, and  it  will  change  its  forms  to  fit  itself  to  those 
thoughts.  There  can  be  no  language  for  a  people  so 
good  as  its  own,  and  yet  the  best  product  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  songs  which  grew  out  of  the  heart  of  the 
people,  were  looked  upon  with  little  interest,  if  not 
with  positive  disfavor,  by  the  learned  classes. 

Not  until  Dante  in  Italy,  and  Chaucer  in  England, 
do  we  find  a  vigorous  reaction  against  the  exclusively 
Latin  education  which  the  schools  of  Charlemagne 
fastened  upon  Europe. 

Military  Affairs.  —  In  studying  the  career  of  Charle- 
magne, one  wonders  continually  that  he  should  have 
been  able  to  command  so  thoroughly  the  resources  of 
his  great  empire.  Much  had  been  done  for  him  by  the 
energy  of  his  father  and  grandfather,  but,  when  we  con- 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         233 

sider  that  in  a  reign  of  nearly  fifty  years  there  was 
scarcely  a  year  in  which  some  sort  of  fighting  was  not 
going  on,  and  that  in  a  given  year  there  was  often  a 
call  for  two  or  three  armies  in  the  field  at  the  same 
time;  further,  that,  even  in  time  of  peace,  the  con- 
quered territory  had  to  be  defended  by  the  constant 
presence  of  armed  men,  our  wonder  grows  that  there 
should  have  been  on  the  whole  so  little  opposition  to 
these  enormous  undertakings. 

The  military  system  of  Charlemagne  is  very  clearly 
outlined  in  his  capitularies.  It  is  important  The 
for  us  to  study  it  with  some  care,  because  it  "Heerban.'' 
was,  by  the  very  pressure  of  constant  warfare,  being 
gradually  changed  into  another  system,  which  was  to  be 
the  most  peculiar  feature  of  mediaeval  life.  The  "heer- 
ban" system  of„_Charlemagne  was  to  give  way  to  the 
"  feudal "  system  under  his  successors.  The  basis  of 
the  heerban  system  was  the  duty  of  every  fighting  man 
to  answer  directly  the  call  of  the  king  to  arms.  The 
'freeman,  not  only  nf  ftfae  prn.nV«1  hnt-.  nf  all  t.TiP  s.nhjppf 
peoples,  owed  military  service  to  the  king  alone.  This 
duty  is  insisted  upon  in  the  laws  of  Charlemagne  with 
constant  repetition.  The  summons  fheprfrfrrA  was  is- 
sued at  the  spring  meeting,  and  sent  out  by  the  counts 
or  missi.  The  soldier  was  obliged  to  present  himself  at 
the  given  time,  fully  armed  and  equipped  with  all  pro- 
vision for  the  campaign,  except  fire,  water,  and  fodder 
for  the  horses.  During  service,  the  soldier  bore  a  sort 
of  sacred  character.  His  wergeld  was  for  the  time 
tripled.  An  offender  against  a  soldier  was  to  be  kept 
in  prison  until  the  soldier  returned.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  soldier  himself  was  forbidden  by  strict  laws 


234        FOUNDATION   OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE. 

from  committing  any  violence  by  the  way.  No  steal- 
ing, brawling,  or  drinking  were  to  disgrace  the  "passage 
of  the  royal  army. 

For  a  time  we  may  believe  that  the  mere  desire  for 
B  d  n  f  &l°ry  an(^  ^he  fame  °f  their  great  leader  may 
military  have  been  motive  enough  for  men  to  answer 

willingly  to  such  demands.  But  wlien  the 
same  call  was  made  year  after  year,  when  the  dweller 
by  the  Rhine  found  himself  marched  away  to  the  bor- 
ders of  Spain  or  Italy,  and  the  Aquitanian  was  carried 
into  service  on  the  Saxon  frontier,  where  neither  glory 
nor  booty  was  to  be  had,  then  the  burden  became  so 
great  that  men  tried  in  every  way  to  escape  from  it. 
Of  course,  there  was  always  an  element  of  the  people, 
the  higher  classes,  whose  power  rested  wholly  on  mili- 
tary fame,  who  were  ready  to  keep  themselves  always 
in  the  field,  and  who  looked  for  their  support  to  the 
multitude  of  their  peasants  at  home.  But  there  was 
another  class,,  the  backbone  of  the  nation  after  all, 
upon  whom  this  burden  fell  with  crushing  weight. 
w,    „  These    were    the    small    free     landholders. 

The  freemen 

try  to  Their   most   precio.us__po.ssession,   their   per- 

sonal liberty,  was  at  the  same  time  their 
greatest  danger.  The  capitularies  show  us  the  devices 
by  which  these  small  landholders  were  trying  to  escape 
the  consequences  of  liberty  and  to  secure  the  compara- 
tive comfort  of  half  servitude.  If  a  man  put  his  prop- 
erty out  of  his  hands  and  into  those  of  another,  this 
should  not  excuse  him  from  service.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, it  seems  to  have  become  clear  that  the  heerban, 
in  its  complete  form,  could  not  be  enforced,  and  we  see 
modifications  of  it,  so  that  several  freemen  might  unite 


FOUNDATION  OF  THE  MEDIAEVAL  EMPIRE.         235 

in  equipping  one  soldier.  The  burden  of  equipment 
was  further  lightened  in  proportion  to  dis-  The  nfendal„ 
tance  from  the  seat  of  war.  But  these  relax-  service 
ations  of  severity  did  not  suffice.  Even  dur-  lllc^eases, 
ing  the  life  of  Charlemagne  we  can  ^^^erj^^plainly 
that  the  "  feudal "  form  of  service  was  becoming  more 
and  more  necessary  to  secure  effective  armies.  After 
his  death  its  progress  is  still  more  rapid,  and  it  was 
destined  within  two  generations  completely  to  revolu- 
tionize the  life  of  the  Germanic  and  Romanic  popula- 
tions of  Europe. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

BEGINNINGS   OF  THE  FEUDAL   SYSTEM.! 

Authorities  :  —  The  Leges  Barbarorum.  Formulae  and  Capitula- 
ries as  in  Chap.  VIII. 

Modern  Works  :  —  G.  Waitz :  Anfange  der  Vassalitat,  Gbttingen. 
Anfange  des  Lehnswesens,  Hist.  Zeitsch.  XIII.  1865.  Deutsche 
Verfassungsgeschichte,  esp.  Vols.  II.  III.  and  IV. 

Paul  Roth :  Geschichte  des  Beneficialwesens,  1850.  Feudalitat 
und  Unterthanenverband,  1863. 

H.  Brunner :  Die  Landverleihungen  der  Merovinger  und  Karo- 
linger.     Sitzungsberichte  der  Berliner  Akademie,  1885. 

F.  de  Coulanges :  Les  Origines  du  regime  feodal.  Rev.  d. 
deux  mondes,  1872-74. 

A  neat  short  statement  of  the  Feudal  principles  is  given  in  Myers' 
Mediaeval  and  Modern  History,  and  an  excellent  summary  of 
the  controversy  as  to  origins  in  E.  B.  Andrews'  Institutes  of 
General  History,  1887. 

« 
If  we  would  understand  ever  so  little  of  the  life  of 

the   Middle   Ages,  we  shall  have  to  know  something 

about  an  institution  which  for  a  th^u^andyears  was  the 

most  important  element  in  the  politics  andnTffie  social 

relations  of  the  European  peoples. 

1  Hardly  any  point  in  the  whole  history  of  European  institutions  has 
been  the  subject  of  so  violent  controversy  as  this  of  the  origin  of  Feu- 
dalism. It  was  formerly  supposed  that  Feudalism  was  only  a  somewhat 
more  developed  form  of  the  ancient  Germanic  "following"  transplanted 
to  Roman  soil,  but  a  more  critical  examination  of  the  documents  of  the 
early  period  soon  showed  that  there  was  more  to  it  than  this.  It  became 
evident  that  Feudalism  was  not  so  simple  as  had  at  first  appeared,  but 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  237 

We  might  almost  describe  the  condition  of  civiliza- 
tion  aim3hirany~people  by  telling  first  Eow  yalueof 
great  a  value  they  set  upon  the  private  pos-  landed 
session  of  land.     A  half-savage  "race,  living  VTOvQTt*' 
by  hunting,  fishing,  and  grazing,  with  perhaps  only  so 
much  agriculture  as  will  serve  to  help  out  the  product 
of  the  chase,  needs  a  great  deal  of  land  in  proportion  to 
its  numbers.     If  men  at  this  stage  live  too  closely  to- 
gether, game  will  soon  get  so  scarce  in  their  neighbor- 
hood that  they  can  no  longer  live  on  it.     They  must 
have  great  forests  and  wide  plains,  where  the  animals 
are  left  long  enough  to  themselves  so  that  they  will 
increase  and  not  be  frightened  away.     It  would  never 
do  for  men  living  this  kind  of  life  to  try  to  mark  off  the 

that  it  was  made  up  of  the  various  elements  mentioned  in  our  text. 
When,  however,  scholars  had  come  to  see  this,  they  then  found  them- 
selves at  variance  upon  the  details  of  the  process  by  which  the  popular 
monarchical  arrangements  of  the  early  Franks  were  converted  into  the 
aristocratic  forms  of  the  later  Feudalism.  While  they  agreed  upon  the 
essential  fact  that  the  Germans,  at  the  time  of  their  emergence  from 
their  original  seats  and  their  occupation  of  the  Roman  lands,  were  not 
mere  wandering  groups  of  freebooters,  as  the  earlier  school  had  repre- 
sented them,  but  well-organized  nations,  with  a  very  distinct  sense  of 
political  organization,  they  found  themselves  hopelessly  divided  on  the 
question  how  this  national  life  had,  in  the  course  of  time,  come  to  as- 
sume forms  so  very  different  from  those  of  the  primitive  German. 

The  first  person  to  present  what  we  may  call  the  modern  view  of  the 
feudal  system  was  Georg  Waitz,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  History  of 
the  German  Constitution,  in  the  years  1844-47.  Waitz  presented  the 
system  as  a  thing  of  gradual  growth  during  several  centuries,  the  vari- 
ous elements  of  which  it  was  composed  growing  up  side  by  side  without 
definite  chronological  sequence.  This  view  was  met  by  Paul  Roth  in 
his  History  of  the  Institution  of  the  Benefice,  in  the  year  1850.  He 
maintained  that  royal  benefices  were  unknown  to  the  Merovingian 
Franks,  and  that  they  were  an  innovation  of  the  earliest  Carolingians. 
They  were,  so  he  believed,  made  possible  by  a  grand  confiscation  of  the 


238  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

land  into  pieces,  one  for  each  man  or  each  family.  It 
has  always  seemed  better  for  them  to  have  a  common 
ownership  in  at  least  so  imich  of  the  land  as  was  used 
for  hunting,  and  generally  even  in  that  used  for  grazing. 
Now  we  have  already  seen  that  this  was  about  the 
ft  condition  of  the  ancient  Germans  when  thev 

Germans  J 

learn  to  value  moved  on  to  the  Roman  soil.  They  were  a 
nation  of  hunters  and  fighters,  with  only  a 
very  little  agriculture.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that 
they  should  not  set  a  very  high  value  on  farming  land, 
and  should  not  have  thought  very  much  about  private 
ownership  in  land.  But  when  they  had  seized  upon  the 
lands  of  Rome,  they  found  a  race  already  used  to  living 
by  the  produce  of   the  soil.     In    course  of   time    they 

lands  of  the  Church,  not  by  Charles  Martel,  as  the  earlier  writers  had 
believed,  but  by  his  sons,  Pippin  and  Karlmann. 

This  first  book  of  Roth  was  followed  in  the  year  1863  by  another  on 
Feudalism  and  the  Relation  of  the  Subject  to  the  State  (Feudalitat 
und  Unterthanenverband),  in  which  he  attempted  to  show  that  the 
direct  subjection  of  the  individual  to  the  government  was  not  a  strange 
idea  to  the  early  German,  but  that  it  pervaded  all  forms  of  Germanic 
life  down  to  the  Carolingian  times,  and  that  therefore  the  feudal  rela- 
tion was  a  something  entirely  new,  a  break  in  the  practice  of  the 
Germans.  In  the  years  1880-1885  appeared  a  new  edition  of  Waitz's 
History  of  the  German  Constitution,  in  which,  after  acknowledging  the 
great  services  rendered  by  Roth  to  the  cause  of  learning,  he  declares 
himself  unable  to  give  up  his  former  point  of  view,  and  brings  new 
evidence  in  support  of  it.  Thus  for  more  than  thirty  years  this  question 
has  been  before  the  world  of  scholars,  and  may  be  regarded  as  being 
quite  as  far  from  a  settlement  as  ever.  An  American  student  may, 
therefore,  be  pardoned  if  he  does  not  attempt  to  take  violent  sides  in  so 
difficult  a  controversy.  I  have  examined  the  arguments  of  both  parties 
with  considerable  care,  and  though  I  should  be  far  from  believing  that 
I  had  attained  to  certainty  on  the  subject,  I  am  much  more  inclined  to 
the  conclusions  of  Waitz  than  to  those  of  his  opponents.  Certainly  the 
spirit  in  which  he  has  conducted  his  side  of  the  controversy  must  com- 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  239 

themselves  came  to  change  their  ways  of  life.  When- 
everfie^^ulaTIoh  of  a  country  gets  pretty  thick,  the 
life  of  the  forest  must  always  change  to  the  life  of  the 
fields,  which  means  that  men  come  to  have  an  interest 
in  the  soil  for  its  own  sake.  They  value  it  for  what  it 
will  produce  ;  and  though  men  have  often  gone  on  for  a 
long  time  with  some  form  or  other  of  common  owner- 
ship, still  when  anything  comes  to  have  great  value  it 
has  always  been  in  the  nature  of  men  to  want  a  part  of 
this  valuable  thing  for  themselves.  In  other  words,  as 
men  have  grown  more  civilized,  private  ownership  of 
land  has  always  tended  to  replace  the  ownership  by  the 
state. 

The  Germans  had  been  going  through  this  change  in 

mand  the  respect  of  every  fair-minded  scholar.  He  admits  frankly  that 
the  material  is  very  meagre  and  very  difficult  to  understand,  and  holds 
that  we  ought,  therefore,  to  look  at  it  in  the  light  of  what  we  know  other- 
wise of  the  laws  of  human  development,  and  of  the  races  here  concerned 
in  particular.  Roth,  on  the  other  hand,  assumes  the  attitude  of  absolute 
certainty  upon  every  point.  He  builds  up  a  great  structure  upon  the 
doubtful  interpretation  of  doubtful  passages  and  throws  contempt  upon 
all  who  do  not  follow  his  conclusions.  His  books  read  with  the  greatest 
smoothness  and  have  commended  themselves  to  many  scholars  by  their 
apparent  decisive  settlement  of  every  point  at  issue. 

It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the  account  of  the  feudal  system  given  in 
the  text  rests  mainly  upon  the  presentation  by  Waitz  in  his  German 
Constitution.  I  have  endeavored  to  modify  it  by  such  comments  of  his 
opponents  as  commended  themselves  to  me,  but,  on  the  whole,  he 
seems  to  me  to  have  marked  out  the  only  safe  rule  of  action  in  dealing 
with  such  meagre  and  obscure  material.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to  learn, 
after  writing  the  present  chapter,  that  Professor  Brunner  of  Berlin  has 
been  recently  led  to  abandon  his  former  position  on  the  question  of 
benefices  as  a  follower  of  Roth,  and  to  admit  that  the  conclusions  of 
Waitz  are  in  the  main  sound,  and  also  that  Professor  Andrews  of  Brown 
University  has  come  to  practically  the  same  view  of  the  controversy  as 
that  which  I  have  given.  E.  E. 


240  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

the  period  we  are  studying,  from  the  first  breach  of 

„      .  the  Roman  frontier  until  the  time  of  Char- 

Growth 

of  a  free  lemagne.      Ownership  of  land  had  come  to 

peasantry.  ^  ^e  most  imp0rtant  thing  in  their  lives.  It 
was  the  chief  source  of  their  incomes ;  it  gave  to  the 
large  holders  influence  and  power  over  the  smaller  ones, 
and  it  was  the  basis  of  the  duty  which  the  citizen  owed 
to  the  state.  Only_the_  free  landholder  was  bound  to 
military  service,  and  this  obligation  was  at  the  same 
time  his  privilege  and  his  distinction.1  As  the  popula- 
tion had  grown  more  dense,  and  therefore  the  demand 
for  agricultural  produce  had  increased,  the  condition  of 
the  peasant  —  that  is,  of  the  free  small  landholder  —  had 
become  more  prosperous,  and  a  peasant  class  had  been 
developed  which  was  the  backbone  of  the  race.  And 
this  peasant  (Bauer)  was  not  a  mere  day-laborer.  He 
might  well  have  many  laborers  under  him,  who  stood 
toward  him  in  a  condition  of  serfdom  or  half  slavery. 
The  "  heerban  "  of  Charlemagne  was  largely  composed 
of  such  peasant  proprietors.  These  men  held  their  land 
in  what  we  call  fee-simple ;  that  is,  the  land  was  their 
"Allodial"  own  an(^  went  by  inheritance  to  their  chil- 
property.  dren.  They  owed  a  duty  to  the  state  because 
they  were  landholders,  but  the  payment  of  this  duty 
was  hot  the  condition  upon  which  they  held  their  land. 
Such  land  was  called  in  the  Middle  Ages  an  "  allode," 
and  the  holding  was  said  to  be  "allodial."  So  far 
things  do  not  seem  to  have  been  very  different  from 
our  own  agricultural  arrangements. 

But  alongside  of   this  free  ownership  of  land  there 

1  Waitz  :  Deutsche  Verfassungsgeschichte,  IV.  532  sq. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  241 

had  been  growing  up  also  another  sort  of  holding, 
entirely  different  from  anything  we  have  ever  «  Feudal ,. 
seen.  Beside  the  ordinary  peasant  owner  property, 
there  grew  up  also'"nie"Taii3o"wiier  who  was  not  himself 
a  farmer,  whose  land  was  nothing  to  him  but  a  means 
of  revenue,  and  whose  real  occupation  in  this  world 
was  fighting  the  battles  of  the  king.  In  an  age  of  war- 
fare like  this,  of  course  the  fighter  by  profession  was 
much  more  highly  thought  of  than  the  cultivator  of  the 
soil.  He  was  the  gentleman  of  the  time.  He  stood  in 
a  relation  of  peculiar  intimacy  to  the  king,  and  it  was 
the  first  interest  of  the  king  to  keep  him  attached  to 
his  cause  by  every  possible  means.  One  of  these  means 
was  by  giving  him  a  share  in  the  administration  of  the 
government  as  a  royal  officer,  set  over  a  part  of  the 
country  to  see  that  the  king's  justice  was  done  there. 
Another  means  was  by  giving  him  a  share  in  the  plun- 
der in  case  of  war.  But  the  principal  means  of  secur- 
ing  the  allegiance  of  the  noble  was  by  a  gift  of  land. 
Now  we  may  well  ask :  Where  did  the  king  get  land  to 
give  away?  The  Merovingian  kings  had  provided  for 
themselves  in  the  conquest  of  the  other  tribes,  by  keep- 
ing for  their  share  a  certain  large  portion  of  the  con- 
quered territory.  This  land  had  then  come  to  the  Caro- 
lingians,  increased  by  their  family  property,  and  further  by 
the  constant  warfare  in  which  they  were  engaged.  They 
could  not  manage  these  great  estates  for  themselves.  It 
was  far  more  convenient  and  far  more  profitable  for 
them  to  give  the  lands  into  the  hands  of  faithful  sub- 
jects who  should  hold  them  and  cultivate  them,  and 
in  return  should  bind  themselves  to  the  king  by  vows 
of  perpetual  fidelity. 


242  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

A  gift  of  land  of  this  sort  was  called  a  "  feudal  grant," 
Feudal  *ne  lan(i  thus  given  was  called  a  "  feud  "  or 

grants.  u  fiei?~lm&  the  terms  on  which   such   land 

was  held  were  called  the  "feudal  tenure."  You  will 
see  that  it  was  something  like  our  method  of  rent- 
ing land,  only  that  we  rent  for  money,  whereas  the 
feudal  king  rented  for  service.  Moreover,  our  rent- 
ing of  land  is  done  generally  for  a  short  time  and 
at  so  much  a  year,  but  the  feudal  land  was  given 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  grantor,  and  might  be  taken 
back  at  any  time.  In  fact,  however,  there  were  few 
reasons  why  the  grantor  should  want  to  take  back  his 
land.  He  might  perhaps  think  he  could  get  better 
terms  from  another  tenant,  or  the  tenant  might  have 
broken  his  part  of  the  contract.  But  as  a  rule  it  was 
for  the  interest  of  both  parties  to  keep  up  to  their  agree- 
ment, especially  as  the  holder  would  naturally  want  the 
Inheritance  gift  t°  be  renewed  to  his  son.  Indeed,  it  soon 
of  fiefs.  came  to  be  so  much  the  regular  thing  forthe 

son  to  receive  the  lands  of  his  father  by  a  new  gift,  that 
it  was  not  long  before  the  kings  recognized  the  grant 
as  herellitary,  so  long  as  there  should  be  a  son  to  carry 
oh  the  obligations  into  which  the  father  had  entered. 
In  the  old  documents,  of  which  we  have  a  great  many, 
this  sort  of  a  gift  is  said  to  be  "  in  beneftcium"  a  word 
coming  from  the  old  Roman  law  under  which  a  similar 
form  of  landholding  had  existed.  This  holdingof  land 
upon  terms  of  service  is  the  first  element  of  the  feudal 
system.1 

1  The  following  formula  for  the  confirmation  of  a  beneficium  is  taken 
from  the  collection  of  Roziere,  No.  CCCXIX. 

"  To  the  venerable  Lord  N.,  rector  of  the  church  at  N.,  or  to  all  the 
congregation  of  that  place,  I,  N,  Greeting :  — 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  243 

The  second  element,  in  t.npf  system  brings  us  to  the 
word  "vassalage."     Again  we  must  try  to 
understand  tormer  thmffl  By  comparing  them    'Vassalase'" 
with  what  we  see  about  us.     If  we  look  at  the  states  of 
Europe  and  America  to-day,  we  shall   see   that  they 
have  one  thing  in  common :  all  the  inhabitants  are  the 
direct  subjects  of  the  government.     Whether  the  gov- 
ernment be  by  the  people's  choice,  as  with  us,  or  "by 
the  grace  of  God,"  as  in  the   European   monarchies, 
there  can  be  no  recognized  power  standing  between  the 
subject  and  the  state.     Now,  among  the  German_peo- 
ples,  as  we  have  seen,  the  tie  to  the  state  was  Personal 
not  very   strong.     You  will  remember  that  service 
we  spoke  of  the  ease  with  which,  in  the  earlier  times  of 

"  In  answer  to  my  request  you  voluntarily  decreed  that  you  would 
order  an  estate  of  yours,  situated  in  the  district  of  N.,  in  the  town  of 
N.,  in  the  place  called  K.f  together  with  all  property  thereto  belonging, 
to  be  given  to  me  in  usufruct,  and  this  you  have  done ;  but  under  the 
following  conditions  :  —  that  I  should  not  be  allowed  to  sell  or  give 
away  or  in  any  way  diminish  it,  but  under  your  protection,  as  long  as 
your  decree  remains  in  force,  I  may  hold  it  and  use  it.  And  for  this 
you  have  taxed  me  every  year  at  the  feast  of  St.  N.  a  certain  sum  of 
money.* 

"  And  after  my  death  the  above  mentioned  estate,  in  all  its  complete- 
ness, whatever  thereto  belongs  and  all  that  at  my  death  shall  have  been 
left  upon  it,  without  any  special  act  of  the  court  or  any  demand  of  my 
heirs,  shall  be  placed  in  their  hands  by  you  or  your  agents.  And  if 
either  I  or  any  of  my  heirs,  contrary  to  this  grant  shall  have  presumed 
to  raise  any  complaint  or  any  claim  or  to  show  any  contempt (?),  let 
him  not  have  what  he  claims,  and  moreover  let  him  pay  one  hundred 
solidi  to  him  against  whom  he  raised  the  contention ;  and  although  I 
may  have  held  this  grant  for  several  years,  let  this  create  no  prejudice 
against  you,  but  let  it  stand  as  firm  as  if  it  were  renewed  every  five 
years,  together  with  the  annexed  conditions,  and  let  it  remain  inviolate 
for  all  time. 

*  Probably  as  a  recognition  of  ownership,  not  as  rent. 


244  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

the  migrations,  a  brave  leader  might  gather  about  him 
a  multitude  of  followers,  often  of  many  different  na- 
tions, who  would  be  bound  to  him  by  no  other  tie  than 
that  of  personal  allegiance.  It  was  this  thing  which,  more 
than  any  other,  struck  the  Roman  Tacitus,  accustomed, 
as  we  are,  to  the  orderly  working  of  a  great  political 
machine,  as  a  special  peculiarity  of  the  German  people. 
The  so-called  u  kings "  of  most  of  the  German  tribes 
seem  to  have  been  specially  elected  persons,  chosen  for 
their  individual  capacity  to  lead  the  nation  in  a  time  of 
danger.  In  our  period  this  looseness  of  political  organ- 
ization had  been  gradually  giving  place  to  a  more  or- 
derly system.  The  Frankish  people,  conquerors  of  all 
the  rest,  had  a  perfectly  well-defined  royal  power,  and 
had  gone  on  in  the  regular  progress  of  national  devel- 
opment which  we  have  been  studying.  But  even  here 
the  old  instinct  of  attachment  to  a  personal  leader  had 
not  been  lost.  It  was  no  longer  so  strong  as  quite  to 
overthrow  the  royal  power;  but  it  was  there  all  the 
same,  and  the  kings  were  forced  to  recognize  it.  The 
transferred  allegiance,  which  had  formerly  showed  itself 
to  the  king,  for  a  successful  fighter,  whoever  he  might 
be,  was  now  transferred  to  the  king.  He  became  the 
"princeps"  of  the  nation.  His  officials,  general  and 
magistrate  in  one,  as  they  always  were,  bound  them- 
selves to  him  by  a  special  oath  of  fidelity.  They  de- 
clared themselves  his  "  men  "  (homines')  by  a  ceremony, 
which  came  then  to  be  known  as  "  homage."  They 
were  in  a  quite  peculiar  sense  his  "vassals,"  bound  to 
serve  him  with  their  lives.  Originally  this  relation  of 
vassalage  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  possession  of 
land.     The  vassal  was  the  king's  man,  not  because  he 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  245 

held  land  of  the  king,  but  because  this  relation  was  one 
of  especial  honor,  and  put  him  in  the  way  to  power  of 
various  kinds.  But  as  the  custom  of  rewarding  ser- 
vice with  gifts  of  land  "  in  beneficium  "  became  fixed, 
it  was  of  all  things  the  most  natural  that  such  gifts 
should  be  made  with  especial  frequency  to  the#  men 
who  stood  in  the  relation  of  vassalage.  And  v  . 
as  this  went  on,  the  two  became  so  closely  combined  with 
connected  that  scholars  have  often^supposed  an  °  ng' 
that  they  always  belonged  together.  By  the  time  of 
Charlemagne  the  holder  of  a  beneficium  from  the  king 
was  almost  of  necessity  his  vassal.  The  difference  be- 
tween this  relation  and  that  of  the  "  follower  "  in  the 
time  of  Tacitus  was  mainly  such  as  had  been  brought 
about  by  the  more  settled  state  of  the  national  life. 
Ownership  of  land  had  come  in  to  take  the  place  of  the 
booty  in  war  and  the  dignity  in  peace  which  were  the 
compensation  for  the  earlier  form  of  service. 

These  were  two  of  the  elements  of  Feudalism.  There 
was  yet  a  third,  the  "  Immunity."  When  The 
political  power  is  conferred  nowadays  by  a  "  Immunity." 
higher  power  to  a  lower,  as,  for  instance,  by  a  govern- 
ment to  its  representative  in  a  colony  or  a  subject 
province,  the  governor  gets  no  rights  for  himself  per- 
sonally. He  may  have  the  power  of  life  and  death 
over  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  but  he  has  it  only 
by  virtue  of  a  special  commission,  which  will  some  day 
expire.  His  action  is  subject  to  examination  and  cor- 
rection by  the  home  government ;  in  short,  he  is  respon- 
sible to  some  one,  and  has  rights  only  subject  to  such 
responsibility.  The  position  of  the  feudal  vassal  was 
entirely  different  from  this.     When  he  received  a  grant 


246  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

of  land,  he  received  with  it  generally  the  right  to  act 
there  in  all  respects  as  a  sovereign,  saving  only  the 
duty  whie«h  he  owed  to  his  lord  the  king,  and  —  but 
this  was  often  a  mere  form  —  saving  also  the  rights 
which  the  king  had  in  the  last  resort  over  the  inhabi- 
tants, of  the  given  lands.  This  grant  of  practically  in- 
dependent sovereignty  was  the  "  immunita%"  It  was 
made  to  both  clerical  and  lay  holders ;  but  the  term  is, 
perhaps,  most  often  used  in  connection  with  the  great 
Church  establishments.  It  made  the  feudal  vassal  prac- 
tically independent  of  all  intermeddling  on  the  lands 
he  received,  so  long  as  lie  fulfilled  the  duty  of  service 
which  was  the  condition  of  his  holding.  He  had  by 
this  the  right  to  levy  soldiers,  to  execute  justice,  and  to 
raise  money  for  these  and  other  purposes.  Every  other 
person  was  forbidden  to  interfere  with  him  in  the  exer- 
cise of  these  rights.  You  will  wonder  how  the  king 
could  afford  to  give  away  such  important  rights.  The 
fact  is,  that  he  could  not  afford  to  do  otherwise.  The 
principle  of  loyalty  to  the  king  had  not  yet  become 
strong  enough  to  make  it  possible  for  him  to  enforce 
the  law  upon  his  powerful  subjects.  It  was  better  to 
make  use  of  the  principles  of  honor  and  self-interest, 
which,  combined  in  the  feudal  system,  gave  a  sort  of 
rude  order  to  the  states  of  Europe  until  they  should 
have  learned  by  long  training  to  live  under  more  stable 
forms.1 

1  Specimen  of  an  Immunity  of  Charlemagne  granted  to  the  monas- 
tery of  St.  Marcellus  at  Chalons  sur  Saone. 

"  Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God  King  of  the  Franks  and  Lombards  and 
Patrician  of  the  Romans,  to  all  having  charge  of  our  affairs,  both 
present  and  to  come :  — 

"  By  the  help  of  the  Lord,  who  has  raised  us  to  the  throne  of  this 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  247 

We  have  thus  far  spoken  of  the  feudal  system  only 
as  it  appeared  in  the  relation  of  the  king  to  «  gubinfeu. 
his  immediate  subjects.  If  it  had  stopped  Nation." 
there,  it  might  never  have  been  worth  our  study.  The 
same  reasons  which  made  it  an  advantage  for  the  king 
to  grant  land  on  the  feudal  tenure,  made  it  an  advan- 
tage for  the  vassal  to  grant  a  great  part  of  what  he 
received,  to  others  on  the  same  terms.  This  was  called 
"subinfeudation."  It  might  extend  to  the  third  or 
fourtF~aregree, "so  that  land  nominally  belonging  to 
the  king  might  be  separated  from  his  direct  control 
by  several  intermediate  persons.  Each  one  of  these 
grantors  in  parting  with  his  land  parted  also  with  the 
same  sovereign  rights  of  military  levy,  justice,  and 
taxation  which  the  king  had  given  to  him,  and  thus, 
in  course  of  time,  the  effect  was  to  cover  the  land  with 
a  great  multitude  of  petty  sovereigns,  each  bound  by 
the  feudal  tie  to  some  one  above  him,  and  to  some  one  or 
more  below  him.     All  this  tended  naturally  to  weaken 

kingdom,  it  is  the  chief  duty  of  our  clemency  to  lend  a  gracious  ear 
to  the  needs  of  all,  and  especially  ought  we  devoutly  to  regard  that 
which  we  are  persuaded  has  been  granted  by  preceding  kings  to  Church 
foundations  for  the  saving  of  souls,  and  not  to  deny  fitting  benefits,  in 
order  that  we  may  deserve  to  be  partakers  of  the  reward,  but  to  con- 
firm them  in  still  greater  security. 

"  Now  the  illustrious  Hubert,  bishop  and  ruler  of  the  church  of  St. 
Marcellus,  which  lies  below  the  citadel  of  Chalons,  where  the  precious 
Martyr  of  the  Lord  himself  rests  in  the  body,  has  brought  it  to  the 
attention  of  our  Highness  that  the  kings  who  preceded  us,  or  our  lord 
and  father  of  blessed  memory,  Pippin,  the  preceding  king,  had  by  their 
charters  granted  complete  immunities  to  that  Monastery,  so  that  in  the 
towns  or  on  the  lands  belonging  to  it  no  public  judge,  nor  any  one  with 
power  of  hearing  cases  or  exacting  fines,  or  raising  sureties,  or  obtain- 
ing lodging  or  entertainment,  or  making  requisitions  of  any  kind, 
should  enter. 


248  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

the  allegiance  of  these  landholders  to  the  king  or  to 
the  state.  In  theory  there  was  always  a  means  by 
which  the  king's  justice  could  be  felt  in  every  quarter 
of  his  kingdom,  but  the  oppressive  noble  was  so  much 
nearer  than  the  king,  that  the  person  oppressed  found 
it  much  easier  to  bear  his  ills,  or  to  make  his  peace  with 
this  powerful  neighbor,  than  to  risk  the  certain  dangers 
of  a  journey  to  the  king's  court,  and  of  a  quarrel  in 
which  he  was  sure  to  get  the  worst  of  it. 

All  this  happened  after  the  time  we  are  studying; 
but  the  beginnings  of  all  these  evils  were  to  be  seen 
long  before  Charlemagne  disappeared. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  royal  lands  were  the  lands 
Feudalism  on  °^  the  Church.  We  have  already  seen  how 
Church  lauds,  it  was  that  the  Church  had  succeeded,  from 
a  very  early  time,  in  getting  together  enormous  tracts 

"  Moreover,  the  aforesaid  bishop,  Hubert,  has  presented  the  original 
charters  of  former  kings,  together  with  the  confirmations  of  them,  to 
be  read  by  us,  and  declares  the  same  favors  to  be  preserved  into  modern 
times ;  but  desiring  the  confirmation  of  our  clemency,  he  prays  that 
our  authority  may  confirm  this  grant  anew  to  the  Monastery. 

"  Wherefore,  having  inspected  the  said  charters  of  former  kings,  we 
command  that  neither  you,  nor  your  subordinates,  nor  your  successors, 
nor  any  person  having  judicial  powers  shall  presume  to  enter  into  the 
villages  which  may  at  the  present  time  be  in  possession  of  that  Monas- 
tery, or  which  hereafter  may  have  been  so  bestowed  by  God-fearing 
men,  or  [may  be  about  to  be  so  bestowed]  (?).  Let  no  public  officer 
enter  for  the  hearing  of  causes,  or  for  exacting  fines,  or  procuring 
sureties,  or  obtaining  lodging  or  entertainment,  or  making  any  requisi- 
tions, but  in  full  immunity,  even  as  the  favor  of  former  kings  has  been 
continued  down  to  the  present  day,  so  in  the  future  also  shall  it,  through 
our  authority,  remain  undiminished.  And  if  in  past  times  through  any 
negligence  of  Abbots,  or  lukewarmness  of  rulers,  or  the  presumption 
of  public  officers  anything  has  been  changed  or  torn  away,  removed  or 
withdrawn  from  these  immunities,  let  it  be  by  our  authority,  and  favor 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  249 

of  land.  There  was  no  way  in  which  a  pious  king  or 
noble  or  other  landholder  could  so  well  show  his  devo- 
tion to  religion,  his  penitence  for  his  sins,  or  his  hope  of 
eternal  salvation,  as  to  give  to  some  neighboring  monas- 
tery or  bishopric  a  goodly  estate,  with  all  the  buildings 
and  all  the  inhabitants  which  might  happen  to  be  on  it. 
We  saw  how  sometimes  these  lands  granted  v  .  f 
to  the  Church  were  at  first  worth  but  little,  Church 
and  that  then  the  good  fathers  proved  them-  °  gs* 
selves  the  most  skilful  agriculturists  of  their  time  by 
levelling  forests  and  draining  swamps  until  the  lands 
had  risen  on  their  hands  to  enormous  value.  The 
peculiar  thing  about  this  holding  of  land  by  the  Church, 
was  that  it  never  changed  hands.  The  individual  died, 
but  the  corporation  lived.  It  was  always  getting  and 
never  losing. 

restored.     And,  further,  let  neither  you  nor  your  subordinates  presume 
to  infringe  or  violate  what  we  have  granted. 

"  But  if  there  be  any  one,  Dominus,  Comes,  Domesticus,  Vicarius,  or 
one  girded  with  any  judicial  power  whatsoever,  by  the  indulgence  of 
the  good  or  by  the  favor  of  pious  Christians  or  kings,  who  shall  have 
presumed  to  infringe  or  violate  these  immunities,  let  him  be  punished 
with  a  fine  of  six  hundred  solidi,  two  parts  to  go  to  the  library  of  this 
Monastery,  and  the  third  part  to  be  paid  into  our  treasury,  so  that  im- 
pious men  may  not  rejoice  in  violating  that  which  our  ancestors  or 
good  Christians  may  have  conceded  or  granted.  And  whatever  our 
treasury  may  have  had  a  right  to  expect  from  this  source,  shall  go  to 
the  profit  of  the  men  of  this  church  of  St.  Marcellus  the  martyr,  to  the 
better  establishment  of  our  kingdom  and  the  good  of  those  who  shall 
succeed  us. 

"And  that  this  decree  may  firmly  endure,  we  have  ordered  it  to  be 
confirmed  with  our  own  hand  under  our  seal. 
[seal]  Seal  of  Charles,  the  most  glorious  king.     Given  on  the 

thirtieth  of  April  in  the   eleventh   and  fifth  year  of   our 
reigns.     Done  at  Heristal." 


250  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

We  saw  further  that  in  the  time  of  Charles  Martel, 
Danger  to  tne  sta^e  was  beginning  to  see  that  its  rev- 
the  state,  enues  were  being  endangered  by  this  process, 
and  tried  to  get  back  some  of  these  lands  which  the 
Church  had  got.  How  clearly  such  a  step  was  against 
the  spirit  of  the  times,  we  may  see  from  the  abuse 
heaped  upon  Martel,  and  from  the  pains  which  his  suc- 
cessors took  to  repair  the  damage  he  had  done,  and  to 
avoid  similar  action  themselves.  Still  it  was  very  clear 
that  the  lands  granted  to  the  Church  could  not  be  al- 
lowed to  slip  away  from  the  service  of  the  king.  We 
have  the  best  of  proof  that  this  danger  was  felt,  in  the 
laws  of  Charlemagne,  forbidding  any  one  to  hand  over 
his  lands  to  the  Church  in  order  to  escape  military  ser- 
vice. It  was  the  duty  of  the  Church,  as  it  was  of  the 
lay  holder,  to  contribute  its  proportion  of  men  and 
money  in  the  service  of  the  state,  but  how  to  enforce 
this  duty  without  offence  to  the  Church,  was  a  ques- 
tion of  the  greatest  delicacy. 

That  a  clergyman  should  himself  bear  arms  was  at 
F    ,  ,.  all  times  felt  to  be  an  unseemly  thing ;  but 

cured  service  such  was  the  warlike  spirit  of  the  day  Uiat 
rom  c  ergy.  ^Q  higher  clergy,  bishops,  and  abbots,  were 
often  to  be  found  with  the  army,  and  it  required  special 
laws  to  prevent  them  from  actually  bearing  arms.  As 
to  the  people  on  their  estates,  Charlemagne  had  no  hesi- 
tation in  insisting  that  they  should  do  their  part  in  the 
service  of  the  king.  As  the  amount  of  service  required 
from  a  landowner  was  proportioned  to  the  size  of  his 
land,  it  was  often  a  serious  problem  how  the  Church 
lands,  of  great  extent,  but  almost  wholly  occupied  by  a 
population  of  agricultural  laborers,  should  be  made  to 


BEGINNINGS   OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  251 

pay  their  part.  This  problem  was  solved  by  the  feudal 
system.  The  monasteries  and  bishoprics  parted  with 
their  land  to  lighting  nobles,  on  the  tenure  of  military 
service,  and  received  these  persons  as  their  vassals. 
This  process  went  on  at  a  great  pace  at  the  time  of 
Charlemagne.  It  was  a  capital  arrangement  for  all 
parties.  It  gave  to  the  monastery  the  certainty  of 
being  able  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  king  for  military 
service,  to  say  nothing  of  being  strong  enough  to  keep 
troublesome  neighbors  in  check,  and  it  gave  to  the  noble 
the  means  of  supporting  a  considerable  body  of  fighting 
men,  as  well  as  an  honorable  settlement  for  his  family. 
By  giving  this  soldier  a  personal  interest  in  a  piece  of 
land  it  kept  him  from  turning  into  a  mere  fighter.  It 
made  him  also  the  responsible  head  of  an  industrial 
community;  and  though  it  may  have  been  very  far  from 
an  ideal  state  of  things,  still  it  was  one  way  out  of  the 
barbarity  of  the  time.  On  the  other  hand,  it  saved  the 
agricultural  regions  of  Europe  from  the  fate  which  fell 
upon  the  ancient  Roman  state  and  upon  the  southern 
half  of  our  country  before  the  war,  of  having  the  land 
divided  among  great  landholders,  who  cultivated  their 
immense  estates  by  slave  labor. 

The  greatest  danger  in  this  system  lay  in  the  very 
thing  which  made  it  most  popular.  It  soon  "Commenda- 
became  clear  that  it  would  not  be  possible  for  tion-" 
the  two  kinds  of  holdings  —  allodial  and  feudal — to  go 
on  peacefully  together.  Just  as  in  our  day  men  aTe"  try- 
ing  to  buy  land  and  houses,  so  that  they  may  live  on  what 
is  their  own,  though  they  might  live  quite  as  well  and 
more  cheaply  in  hired  houses  and  on  hired  lands,  so,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  these  early  Middle  Ages,  men  soon  began 


252  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

to  see  that  the  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  private 
ownership  were  so  great  that  they  preferred  to  give  up 
their  lands  to  some  more  powerful  person,  and  receive 
them  back  from  him  on  the  feudal  basis.  This  giving 
up  of  allodial  land  and  receiving  it  again  as  feudal  was 
a  part  of  the  process  called  "  commendation."  The 
freeman  was  said  to  "commend"  himself  to  a  lord,  and 
by  the  receipt  of  the  land  he  became  his  vassal.  In  the 
later  years  of  Charlemagne  this  process  was  going  on 
very  rapidly.1 

Such  was  the  feudal  system  in  so  far  as  it  was  con- 
Social  effect  cerned  with  the  holding  of  land.  It  was  the 
of  feudalism,  framework  within  which  mediaeval  society  was 
to  grow.    The  peculiar  charm  of  that  society,  its  roman- 

1  An  ancient  formula  of  commendation  in  the  Formula  Turonenses, 
n.  44,  gives  an  example  of  this  process.  The  vassal  is  a  poor  man;  he 
begins  by  addressing  himself  to  a  noble  lord  (domino  magnifico)  : 
'*  Since  it  is  well  known  to  every  one  that  I  have  scarcely  the  where- 
withal to  feed  and  clothe  myself,  therefore  I  desire  to  beseech  your 
charity  that  I  might  commend  myself  into  your  guardianship  (nwndo- 
burdum)  upon  the  following  terms :  that  as  long  as  I  shall  be  able  to 
serve  you,  you  shall  provide  me  with  food  and  clothing,  and  that  as  long 
as  I  live  I  will  give  you  sure  and  faithful  service,  and  that  I  shall  have 
no  power  to  withdraw  myself  from  your  guardianship  all  the  days  of 
my  life,  but  shall  remain  under  your  power  and  defence.  Wherefore  it 
is  provided  that  if  one  of  us  shall  desire  to  withdraw  from  this  agree- 
ment, he  shall  pay  to  the  other  party shillings,  and  this  agreement 

shall  be  unbroken.  It  is  further  provided  that  two  writings  of  the  same 
tenor  shall  be  made  and  exchanged." 

The  two  following  examples  illustrate  commendation  in  a  higher 
form.  The  act  here  is  not  merely  a  personal  and  economic  one,  but  has 
also  an  important  political  meaning. 

Annates  Laurrissenses ,  ann.  757 :  King  Pippin  held  an  assembly 
at  Compiegne,  and  thither  came  Tassilo,  duke  of  the  Bavarians,  to 
commend  himself  in  vassalage  by  the  clasping  of  hands  (per  manus), 
and   he   swore  countless   oaths,  laying  his  hands  upon  the  relics  of 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  253 

tic  elements,  the  devotion  of  the  vassal  to  his  lord,  the 
absolute  duty  of  the  lord  to  the  vassal,  the  noble  con- 
ception of  the  gentleman  which  grew  up  in  the  progress; 
of  chivalry,  the  high  place  of  woman  in  the  consideration 
of  men,  the  charm  which  literature  has  thrown  about  all 
these  social  relations,  would  have  been  impossible  with- 
out the  basis  of  legal  order  which  we  have  here  been 
studying  in  its  somewhat  dry  outlines. 

The  study  of  all  these  things  would  be  out  of  place 
in  an  introduction  to  the  history  of  the  Mid-  F  d  r 
die  Ages.    They  are  the  history  of  the  Middle  against 
Ages.     Our  only  purpose  is  to  take  a  glimpse  centra  lzatlon' 
at  this  new  society  as  it  was  forming  in  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne.  It  will  occur  to  you  that  the  tendencies  of  such 

holy  martyrs,  promising  fidelity  to  King  Pippin  and  his  sons  Karl 
and  Karlmann,  that  he  would  be  their  vassal  with  an  upright  heart 
and  pure  devotion,  as  a  vassal  should  be  to  his  lord.  Thus  Tassilo 
bound  himself  upon  the  bodies  of  saints  Dionysius,  Rusticus,  and 
Eleutherius,  of  saints  Germanus  and  saint  Martin,  that  all  the  days 
of  his  life  he  would  maintain  what  he  had  thus  sworn.  And  all  the 
elder  men  who  were  with  him  swore  the  same  things,  both  in  the  places 
above  named  and  in  many  others. 

Ermoldus  Nigellus,  Carmen  in  honorem  Ludowici  Augusti,  III.  601. 
The  King  of  Denmark  commends  himself  as  vassal  to  the  Emperor 
Louis  the  Pious. 

"Then  with  clasped  hands  he  gave  himself  to  the  king,  and  with 
himself  the  kingdom  which  was  his  by  right,  saying :  '  Take,  O  Caesar, 
me  and  my  subject  kingdoms  ;  of  my  own  free  will  I  give  myself  to  thy 
service.' 

"  Then  the  Emperor  took  the  hands  of  the  king  within  his  own  noble 
hands,  and  the  realms  of  Denmark  were  added  to  the  God-serving 
Pranks. 

"Thereupon  the  Emperor,  rejoicing,  gave  to  him,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Pranks,  a  horse  and,  as  the  custom  was,  at  the  same  time  an 
equipment  of  arms." 


254  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM. 

a  society  were  exactly  the  opposite  of  many  of  those 
which  we  have  been  studying.  For  instance,  we  Saw  that 
Charlemagne  was  determined  above  all  things  to  make 
his  own  authority  felt  in  every  corner  of  his  empire. 
The  counts  whom  he  sent  out  to  carry  on  the  govern- 
ment in  the  provinces  were  to  be  entirely  dependent 
upon  him,  and  were  not  to  be  in  any  sense  lords  of 
the  countries  they  governed  in  his  name.  That  was 
undoubtedly  Charlemagne's  theory,  but  in  practice  it 
could  not  be  carried  out.  These  counts,  scattered  all 
over  the  Empire,  followed  the  drift  of  the  feudal  insti- 
tutions, and  soon  began  to  get,  either  from  the  king  or 
from  the  Church,  great  pieces  of  land  over  which  they 
were,  in  the  feudal  sense,  independent  sovereigns. 
This  process  began  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne.  He 
did  what  he  could  against  it,  but  as  soon  as  he  was 
gone,  it  appeared  that  it  could  no  longer  be  checked. 
In  fact,  it  soon  became  clear  that  only  in  this  way 
Ad  f  could  the  allegiance  of  these  powerful  sub- 

feudalism  for  jects  be  secured.  It  was  cheaper  to  give  a 
man  a  landed  estate,  however  large,  in  return 
for  the  honorable  service  he  would  be  pretty  sure  to 
render,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  having  him  for  an 
enemy  who  might  combine  with  some  others  of  his 
kind,  and  take  for  his  own  the  very  lands  the  king  had 
refused  him.  Of  course  the  more  land  the  king  gave 
away  in  this  fashion,  the  less  he  had  left  to  draw  men 
from,  so  that  the  time  soon  came  when  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  him  to  enforce  the  law  against  the 
barons.  It  was  only  by  their  willing  help  that  he 
could  get  soldiers  for  any  purpose.  Any  effort  to 
police  them  would  have  been  like  calling  upon  men  to 


BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM.  255 

arrest  themselves  and  bring  themselves  before  a  court 
of  justice. 

So  it  was  by  this  process  that  the  brilliant  establish- 
ment which  Charlemagne  had  built  up  went 
rapidly  to  pieces.     In  spite  of  all  his  effort  element  over- 
to   make  a  Roman   empire  out  of   Teutonic  °omes  *he 

.       .        .       '  „  Romanic. 

peoples,  the  Teutonic  instincts  of  the  race 
came  out  triumphant.  All  the  essential  ideas  of  Feudal- 
ism were  Germanic.  Some  of  them  existed  as  well  among 
the  "Romans,  but  there  was  no  one  of  them  which  was 
exclusively  Roman.  So  it  happened  quite  naturally 
that  what  was  most  thoroughly  Germanic  in  the  insti- 
tutions of  Charlemagne  remained  deeply  rooted  in  the 
lives  of  the  European  peoples  for  about  eight  hundred 
years.  When  the  time  came  for  them  to  be  changed, 
this  change  was  brought  about  largely  by  the  growth 
of  other  institutions  as  plainly  Romanic  as  those  of 
Feudalism  were  plainly  Germanico 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 


EVENTS  MENTIONED  IN  THIS  BOOK. 


B.C. 

753  (?). 

753-510  (?). 

510-31. 

133. 

121. 

104-100. 

82. 

102(?)-44. 

31-a.d.  14. 

A.D. 

>     9. 
c.  100. 
166-180. 

270-275. 

284-305. 
312. 

313. 

^324-337. 
325. 

360-362. 
^  378. 

318-388. 


Foundation  of  Rome. 
Period  of  the  Kings. 
Period  of  Roman  Conquest. 
Death  of  Tiberius  Gracchus. 
Death  of  Caius  Gracchus. 
Consulships  of  Marius. 
Dictatorship  of  Sulla. 
Caius  Julius  Caesar. 
Caesar  Octavianus  Augustus. 

Battle  of  the  Teutoburg  Forest. 

Composition  of  the  "  Germania  "  of  Tacitus. 

Wars  of  Marcus  Aurelius  against  the  Marcomanni 

and  Quadi. 
Aurelian  Emperor.     Surrender  of  the   Province  of 

Dacia. 
Diocletian  Emperor. 
Victory  of  Constantine  over  Maxentius  "  at  the  Mil- 

vian  Bridge." 
Edict  of  Milan  giving  toleration  to  Christianity. 
Constantine  sole  ruler.  *S 

First  General  Church  Council  at  Nicaea. 
Julian,  the  "Apostate"  Emperor. 
Battle  of  Adrianople.  y 

Ulfilas,  the  Apostle  of  the  Visigoths. 


258 


CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE. 


A.D. 

379-395.  Theodosius  Emperor. 

395-423.  Honorius  Emperor  of  the  West. 

395-408.  Arcadius  Emperor  of  the  East. 

*  408-450.  Theodosius  II.  Emperor  of  the  East. 

395-410.  Alaric  King  of  the  Visigoths. 

400.  Alaric  in  Italy. 

402.  Repulse  of  Alaric  by  Stilicho  at  Pollentia. 

408.  Murder  of  Stilicho  by  Honorius. 

410.  Sack  of  Rome  by  Alaric.  ^ 

411.  Evacuation  of  Britain  by  the  Roman  troops. 

415.  Foundation   of  the  Visigothic  kingdom  in  Gaul   and 
Spain. 

429.  The  Vandals  cross  over  to  Africa. 

430.  Death  of  St.  Augustine. 
433.  Attila  leader  of  the  Huns. 

439.  Capture  of  Carthage  by  the  Vandals. 

440-461.  Papacy  of  Leo  I. 

443.  The  Burgundians  occupy  the  Rhone  valley. 

450-457.  Marcian.  ~\ 

457-474.  Leo  the  Thracian.  >•    Emperors  of  the  East. 

474-491.  Zeno.  ) 

449.  Anglo-Saxon  conquest  of  England  begun. 

451.  Battle  of  Chalons.  l^ 

451.  Council  of  Chalcedon.  ^ 

452.  Attila  invades  Italy. 

454.  Break-up  of  the  Hunnish  kingdom. 
425-455.  Valentinian  III.  Emperor  of  the  West. 

455.  Sack  of  Rome  by  the  Vandals.  \<S 
455-476.  Eight  emperors  of  the  West,  mostly  the  creatures  of 

Ricimer  the  Sueve. 

476.  End  of  the  Western  Empire.  S 

476-493.  Italy  under  the  government  of  Odoacer  the  Herulian. 

486.  The  Franks  under  Clovis  defeat  Syagrius,  a  Roman 

general  at  Soissons.  v 

490-493.  Conflict  in  Italy  between  Odoacer  and  the  Ostrogoths 

under  Theodoric. 

493-552.  The  Ostrogothic  kingdom  in  Italy. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 


259 


A.D. 

496. 


500. 
507. 
526. 
529. 
530. 
534. 
534. 
535  fir  540. 

552. 

558. 

56a 

596. 

622. 

628-638. 
664. 


687. 
711. 

714-741. 
732. 
746. 
752. 

756. 

768. 


771-814. 

774. 

772-803. 
774. 
777. 


Clovis  defeats  the  Alemanni  near  Strassburg  and  be- 
comes a  Catholic  Christian.  ^ 

The  Franks  annex  the  Ripuarian  land. 

Burgundy  tributary  to  the  Franks. 

Aquitaine  temporarily  occupied  by  the  Franks. 

Death  of  Theodoric  the  Ostrogoth. 

Foundation  of  the  Benedictine  order. 

Conquest  of  Thuringia  by  the  Franks. 

Conquest  of  the  Vandals  by  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire. 

Final  conquest  of  Burgundy  by  the  Franks. 

Campaigns  of  Belisarius,  general  of  the  Eastern  Empire, 
in  Italy. 

Narses,  the  successor  of  Belisarius,  totally  defeats  the 
Ostrogoths  under  Totila. 

Lothair  I.  reunites  the  Frankish  kingdoms. 

Invasion  of  Northern  Italy  by  the  Lombards. 

Roman  mission  to  the  Anglo-Saxons  under  Pope  Greg- 
ory I. 

The  "  Hegira  "  of  the  prophet  Mohammed.        ^ 

Dagobert,  king  of  the  Franks. 

Council  of  Whitby.  Victory  of  Roman  Christianity 
in  England.  \*s^ 

Battle  of  Testry.     Austrasia  conquers  Neustria. 

The  Arabs  cross  into  Spain  and  destroy  the  Visigothic 
kingdom. 

Charles  Martel  "  Major  Domus  "  of  the  Franks.      \s 

Battle  of  Tours  (Poitiers).  \S 

Abdication  of  Karlmann. 

Pippin  king  of  the  Franks.      >^ 

Donation  of  Pippin  to  the  papacy. 

Division  of  the  Frankish  kingdom  between  the  sons  of 
Pippin. 

Charlemagne  sole  king  of  the  Franks.      %S 

Conquest  of  Lombardy  by  Charlemagne. 

The  Saxon  war. 

Donation  of  Charlemagne  to  the  papacy. 

Charlemagne's  expedition  into  Spain. 


260  CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE. 


A.D. 

780  (?).  The  Capitulary  "  de  partibus  Saxonice." 

782.  Massacre  of  prisoners  at  Verden. 

778-785.  Career  of  Widukind  the  Saxon. 

787.  Conquest  of  Bavaria. 

791.  Conquest  of  the  Avars. 

794.  Council  at  Frankfort. 

797.  The  "  Capitular  e  Saxonicum" 

800.  Charlemagne  crowned  Emperor,     -r^ 

814.  Death  of  Charlemagne. 


INDEX. 


\bderrahman,  Arab  commander  at 
Tours,  127. 

Abodriti,  Slav  allies  of  Franks,  209. 

Adolf,  king  of  the  Visigoths,  33. 

Adrianople,  battle  of,  10,  27. 

Aetius,  Roman  general  at  the  battle 
of  Chalons,  43. 

Aistulf ,  king  of  Lombards,  captures 
Ravenna,  and  lays  siege  to  Rome, 
165;  raises  the  siege,  166;  second 
siege,  167;  besieged  in  Pavia,  sur- 
renders to  Pippin,  168;  his  charac- 
ter, 172. 

Alani,  the,  35. 

Alaric,  king  of  the  Visigoths,  28 ;  cap- 
tures Rome,  31;  plans  for  future 
conquest,  and  death,  32. 

Alboin,  king  of  Lombards,  58. 

Alcuin,  229. 

Alemanni,  24;  subdued  by  Franks, 
64;  definitely  conquered,  69. 

Alemannia,  in  revolt  against  the  sons 
of  Martel,  159. 

"Allodial"  property,  240. 

Amali,  royal  race  of  the  Ostrogoths, 
53. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  Roman  his- 
torian, 22. 

Angilbert,  Frankish  poet,  230. 

Anglo-Saxons,  land  in  England,  111; 
converted  to  Roman  Christianity, 
110-113. 

Annals,  their  beginnings,  60;  speci- 
mens, 61-62. 

Apollinaris  Sidonius,  Latin  poet  in 
Gaul.  41. 

Aquileia,  taken  by  Attila,  45. 


Aquitaine,  revolt  against  the  sons  of 
Martel,  158;  reduction  by  Pippin, 
174;  administrative  measures,  175. 

Arcadius,  Eastern  emperor,  29,  49. 

Arian-Athanasian  controversy,  100. 

Arius,  Egyptian  presbyter,  99. 

Aries  (Arelatum),  Frankish  reverse 
at,  67. 

Aryan  race,  1;  its  branches,  2;  proof 
of  unity,  3. 

Assemblies  of  the  Franks,  153-157, 
221. 

Athanasius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  99. 

Attila,  king  of  the  Huns,  42 ;  defeated 
at  Chalons,  44;  interview  with  Pope 
Leo  I.,  46;  death,  47. 

Augustine,  missionary  to  England, 
112. 

Augustinus,  Aurelius,  Bishop  of  Hip- 
po, writes  the  "  City  of  God,"  32. 

Augustus  Imperator,  7. 

Aurelian,  emperor,  gives  up  Dacia  to 
the  Visigoths,  25. 

Austrasia,  east  kingdom  of  Franks, 
70. 

Autharis,  king  of  Lombards,  58. 

Avars,  land  and  people ;  repulsed  by 
Bavarians,  210;  conquered  by  Char- 
lemagne, 211. 

Avitus,  Western  emperor,  50. 

Basil,  Saint,  order  of,  136. 

Bavaria,  revolt  against  Pippin,  159; 

population  and  government,  205; 

conquered  by  Charlemagne,  205- 

209. 
Bavarians,  24. 


262 


INDEX. 


Belisarius,  general  of  Justinian,  re- 
covers Africa,  56 ;  and  Italy,  57. 

Benedict,  Saint,  order  of,  137  ff. 

Benedictine  rule,  137;  its  practical 
character,  138;  the  vow  of  obedi- 
ence, 149. 

Benefichim,  242 ;  illustration  of,  242,  n. 

Boethius,  Roman  scholar  at  the  court 
of  Theodoric,  56. 

Bohemians,  Slavonic  people,  209. 

Boniface,  apostle  to  the  Germans, 
130-132;  leader  of  the  Frankish 
Church,  154;  made  Archbishop  of 
Mainz,  161. 

Bremen,  Saxon  bishopric,  205. 

British  Church,  its  foundation,  110; 
driven  westward  by  Anglo-Saxons, 
111;  differences  from  Rome,  112; 
its  missionaries  on  the  continent, 
131. 

Brunhilda,  queen  of  Austrasia,  71. 

Burgundians,  39-40 ;  tributary  to 
Franks,  66;  conquered  by  Franks, 
69. 

Burgundy,  part  of  the  Frankish  king- 
dom, 70. 

Caesar,  Caius  Julius,  7. 

Capitularies,  73,  151;  de  partibus 
Saxoniae,  199;  Capitulum  Saxoni- 
cum,  203. 

Carolingians,  second  royal  house  of 
Franks,  62;  M ajors  Domus  in  Aus- 
trasia, 118;  kings  of  the  Franks, 
162  ff. 

Cassianus,  founder  of  monasteries, 
137. 

Cassiodorus  Senator,  minister  of 
Theodoric,  48. 

Chalcedon,  council  of,  106. 

Chalons,  battle  of,  44-45;  compared 
with  battle  of  Tours,  129. 

Charlemagne,  consecrated  king,  166; 
sole  king  of  Franks,  181;  marries 
Lombard  princess,  181;  invades 
Lombardy,  183-185;  crowned  king 
of  Lombards,  or  of  Italy,  185-186; 
renews  donation  of  Pippin,  186- 
188;  patricius  of  Rome,  189.    First 


Saxon  campaign,  194;  Spanish 
campaign,  198,  211;  administration 
of  Saxony,  199-200 ;  massacre  of 
Verden,  201-202;  settlement  of 
Saxony,  203-205;  his  power  "im- 
perial," 215;  model  for  his  empire, 
216 ;  crowned  emperor,  217 ;  Roman 
or  German?  218;  his  imperial  ad- 
ministration, 219  ff.;  head  of  the 
Frankish  Church,  223-225;  en- 
courages education,  227-230;  his 
Germanic  sympathies,  231. 

Charles  Martel,  major  domus  of  the 
Franks,  120;  subdues  the  Frisians 
and  Saxons,  121 ;  confiscates  Church 
lands  for  the  public  defence,  121; 
unites  the  Frankish  forces,  127; 
wins  the  battle  of  Tours,  128-129; 
declines  to  help  papacy  against 
Lombards,  132-133. 

Chaucer,  his  use  of  the  vulgar  tongue, 
232. 

Childeric,  the  last  of  the  Merovin- 
gians, 152-153. 

Christian  Church,  its  beginnings,  93; 
its  persecution,  94;  earliest  organi- 
zation, 96-97;  division  into  East 
and  West,  300. 

Church  discipline  in  Frankland,  154. 

Church  doctrine,  its  gradual  devel- 
opment, 99. 

Church  lands,  their  value,  249;  dan- 
ger to  the  state,  250;  this  danger 
avoided  by  Feudalism,  250-251. 

Clotilda,  queen  of  Franks,  a  Catho- 
lic Christian,  64;  tries  to  maintain 
peace,  69. 

Clovis,  king  of  the  Salian  Franks, 
wins  the  battle  of  Soissons,  64;  the 
battle  of  Strassburg,  64;  converted 
to  Catholic  Christianity,  64;  an- 
nexes Ripuaria,  67;  sole  ruler  of 
the  Franks,  68;  legend  as  to  his 
birth,  114. 

Cologne,  archbishopric  of,  226. 

Commendation,  251-252;  illustration 
of,  252,  n. 

Compurgation.  79. 

Constantine,  emperor,  9;  his  conver- 


INDEX. 


263 


sion,    95;    conquers    Licinius,    98; 

founds  Constantinople,  101. 
Constantinople,  its  foundation,  101. 
"  Counts,"  Frankish  administrative 

officers,  176;  in  Saxony,  199;  under 

Charlemagne,  219. 

Dagobert,  king  of  the  Franks,  71; 

restrains  the  nobility,  117. 
Dalmatia,    surrendered    by   Charle- 
magne to  Eastern  Empire,  211. 
Dante,    his    view    of    the    temporal 

power,    104;    use    of    the    vulgar 

tongue,  232. 
Danube,  boundary,  12. 
Desiderius,  last  king  of  Lombards, 

172;   conquered  by  Charlemagne, 

183-186. 
Detmold,  battle  of,  203. 
Diocletian,  8. 
Division  of  the  Church;    its  causes, 

100-102. 
Donation  of  Constantine,  104. 
Donation  of  Pippin  to  the  papacy, 

168 ;  renewed  by  Charlemagne,  187- 

188. 
"  Do-nothing  kings,"  118. 
"  Dukes,"  local  political  leaders,  76. 

Eastern  boundary  of  Frankland,  209. 

Eastern  Empire,  relations  with  Char- 
lemagne, 216-217 ;  with  earlier  Ger- 
manic conquerors,  216,  n. 

Ebroin,  major  domus  in  Neustria,  119. 

Edictum  Theodorici,  laws  of  Theo- 
doric,  54. 

Einhard,  annals  of,  61,  170;  his  life 
of  Charlemagne,  150,  229. 

Ephesus,  "Robber-council"  at,  106. 

Eresburg,  Saxon  fortress  destroyed 
by  Charlemagne,  194. 

Eudes,  "  duke  "  of  Aquitaine,  120;  de- 
feats the  Arabs,  126;  defeated  by 
them,  127. 

Eudoxia,  empress,  invites  Gaiseric 
to  plunder  Rome,  38,  50. 

Felix  of  Urgella,  "  adoptianist "  her- 
etic, 223. 


Feud,  see  Fiefs. 

Feudal  System,  233,  235 ;  controversy 
as  to  origin,  236,  n.;  as  affecting 
Church  lands,  248-251;  social  ef- 
fects of,  252 ;  opposed  to  centraliza- 
tion, 253;  its  advantages  to  the 
king,  254;  mainly  Germanic. 

Feudal  property,  241. 

Feuds,  modern,  75. 

Fiefs,  242;  inheritance  of,  242. 

Frankfort,  assembly  of,  208,  223. 

Frankish  Church,  discipline  under 
Karlmann  and  Pippin,  154;  alli- 
ance with,  but  independence  of, 
the  papacy,  160-162  ;  regulation 
of  marriage,  160,  173 ;  stricter 
organization  by  Charlemagne, 
225-227. 

Franks,  24;  political  divisions,  63; 
conquest  of  Gaul,  64-67;  condition 
at  the  death  of  Martel,  151. 

Fredegarius,  Frankish  historian,  114. 

Fredegonda,  queen  of  Neustria,  71. 

Freising,  bishopric  of,  132. 

Fulda,  annals  of,  61 ;  in  conflict  with 
Mainz,  146,  149. 

Gaiseric  (Genseric),  king  of  the  Van- 
dals, 36-38. 

"  Germania  "  of  Tacitus,  15. 

German  law,  its  personality,  75;  in 
contact  with  Roman,  76-78;  reduced 
to  writing,  77 ;  its  principles  of  evi- 
dence, 79. 

Germans,  their  origin,  2;  their  man- 
ner of  life,  14;  gigantic  size,  15; 
family  purity,  15;  vices,  16;  mili- 
tary system,  16;  why  they  con- 
quered Rome,  18;  how  they  learned 
about  Rome,  19;  they  become 
Christians,  19;  their  situation  just 
before  the  great  migration,  24. 

Germans  and  Romans,  comparison 
of  the  two,  11-21. 

Gesta  Francornm,  Frankish  history, 
114. 

Gothic  architecture,  55. 

Goths,  25. 

Gratian,  emperor,  27. 


264 


INDEX. 


Gregory  the  Great,  pope,  108-109 ;  his 

conversion  of    the    Anglo-Saxons, 

110-112. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  Frankish  historian, 

62,  66,  68,  69,  70,  85-87. 
Gregory  III.,  pope,  applies  for  aid  to 

Martel,  132-133. 
Grimoald,  Carolingian  major  domus, 

tries  to  make  his  son  king,  118. 
Gripho,  son  of  Martel,  152. 
Gundohald,  king  of  the  Burgundians, 

39. 

Hadrian,  wall  of,  12,  n. 
Halberstadt,  Saxon  bishopric,  205. 
Hamburg-Bremen,  archbishopric  of, 

226. 
Hase,  river,  battle  at,  203. 
Heathen  rites,  suppression  of,  155. 
Heerban,  of  Charlemagne,  233. 
Hegira,  the,  123. 
Hermann,  German  chieftain,  23. 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  its  beginning, 

217;  its  foundations,  218;  relation 

to  papacy,  222. 
Holy  Spirit,  procession  of,  102,  224. 
Honorius,  Western  emperor,  29. 
Hunold,  duke  of  Aquitaine,  revolts 

against  the  sons  of  Martel,  158. 
Huns,    their    origin,    26,  41;    under 

Attila,  42 ;  defeated  at  Chalons,  44; 

overrun  Italy,  46-47;   their  king- 
dom broken  up,  47. 

Iconoclastic  controversy,  223. 

Image-worship,  102, 132. 

"Immunity,"  145. 

Immunity,  245-246;  illustration  of, 
246,  n. 

Irene,  Eastern  empress,  217. 

Irmensaule,  shrine  of  Saxons,  de- 
stroyed by  Charlemagne,  194. 

Islam,  124. 

Istria,  surrendered  by  Charlemagne 
to  Eastern  Empire,  211. 

Italians,  2  ff . 

Italy,  invaded  by  Visigoths,  30-32; 
occupied  by  German  mercenaries 
under   Odoacer,  51-52;   by  Ostro- 


goths, 53-57;  recovered  by  Justin- 
ian, 56-57;  under  Charlemagne, 
186, 189. 

Jordanes,  or  Jornandes,  Gothic  his- 
torian, 22. 

Julian,  10. 

Justinian,  emperor,  recovers  Africa, 
56 ;  and  Italy,  57 ;  codifies  the  Ro- 
man law,  56. 

Karlmann,  son  of  Martel,  152;  causes 
Church  property  to  be  restored, 
156;  abdicates  and  enters  Monte 
Cassino,  157;  visits  Gaul  in  the 
Lombard  interest,  166. 

Karlmann,  son  of  Pippin,  166;  reigns 
jointly  with  Charlemagne,  dies,  his 
children  cared  for  by  Desiderius, 
181. 

Kelts,  2. 

Koran,  the,  124. 

Landed  property,  value  of,  237;  be- 
comes valuable  to  Germans,  238. 

Latin  Christianity,  checks  German 
development,  230-232. 

Legal  penalties,  89. 

Leges  Barbarorum,  73. 

Leges  Romanae,  77. 

Leo  the  Thracian,  Eastern  emperor, 
49. 

Leo  I.,  pope,  tries  to  save  Rome  from 
the  Vandals,  38;  persuades  Attila 
to  spare  Rome,  46 ;  his  administra- 
tion of  the  papacy,  105;  at  the 
council  of  Chalcedon,  106. 

Leo  III.,  pope,  reinstated  by  Charle- 
magne ;  crowns  him  emperor,  217. 

Lestines,  Frankish  assembly  at,  157. 

Lex  Burgundionum,  78. 

Lex  Frisionum,  78. 

Lex  Ripuariorum,  78. 

Lex  Salica,  63,  78;  in  contrast  with 
other  Germanic  laws,  79. 

Lex  Saxonum,  78. 

Lex  Wisigothorum,  78. 

Libri  Carolini,  224. 

Licinius,  emperor,  colleague  of  Con* 


INDEX. 


265 


stantine,  06;  conquered  and  killed 
by  Constantine,  98. 

Literature,  decline  of,  141;  revival 
under  Charlemagne,  150,  227-230; 
an  imitation  of  Roman,  230. 

Liutprand,  king  of  Lombards,  132- 
133;  invades  the  Exarchate,  163- 
164. 

Lombards ;  occupy  Italy,  57-58 ;  their 
legendary  history,  58-59;  converted 
to  orthodoxy,  59;  threaten  the  pa- 
pacy, 130. 

Lombardy,  58. 

Lothaire  L,  son  of  Clovis,  king  of  the 
Franks,  69,  71. 

Lothaire  II.,  king  of  the  Franks,  71. 

Lullus,  archbishop  of  Mainz;  his  con- 
flict with  Fulda,  147. 

Magdeburg,  bishopric  of,  226. 

Mainz,  archbishopric  of,  146 ;  conflict 
with  Fulda,  147;  under  Charle- 
magne, 226. 

Major  Domus,  Frankish  prime  min- 
ister, 72,  117-118. 

Marcian,  Eastern  emperor,  49. 

Marcomanni,  war  of  the,  23. 

Markgrafen,  counts  of  the  border, 
209-210. 

Marks,  Eastern,  209. 

Marriage,  of  clergy,  160;  of  laymen, 
160-161. 

Maxentius,  rival  emperor  to  Con- 
stantine, 95. 

Maximus,  Western  emperor,  50. 

Medes,  2. 

Merovingians,  royal  family  of  the 
Franks,  63,  68;  meaning  of  their 
period,  72;  the  last  of  the,  152-153. 

Metz,  Merovingian  capital,  68,  70. 

Migrations  of  the  Aryans,  1-2 ;  of  the 
Germans,  its  causes,  20-21. 

Milan,  edict  of,  96-97. 

Military  service,  under  Charlemagne, 
233-234. 

Missi  dominici,  220;  their  decline, 
221. 

Mohammed,  123-124. 

Mohammedanism ;  its  origin,  122-123 ; 


its  success,  124 ;  danger  to  Europe, 

125;  in  Spain,  126. 
Monasteries;    their    "immunities," 

145 ;  opposed  to  the  bishoprics,  146- 

147;  danger  to  the  state,  148;  value 

to  the  papacy,  148 ;  immorality  in, 

148;  independence  of,  226. 
Monastery.schools,  142. 
Monasticism,    135  ff . ;    in  the  West, 

136;  its  dangers,  144;  judgment  of, 

149. 
Monks,  pioneers  of  agriculture,  139- 

140;  leaders  of  learning,  140-141; 

guardians  of  ancient  literature,  143. 
Moslem,  the,  123. 

Narses,  general  of  Justinian,  exarch 

of  Ravenna,  57. 
Neustria,  west  kingdom  of  Franks, 

70. 
Nicaea,  council  of,  98;  creed  of,  100. 

Odilo,  duke  of  Bavaria,  conquered 
by  Pippin,  159. 

Odoacer,  leader  of  German  mercena- 
ries, and  ruler  of  Italy,  51-52. 

Ordeals,  81;  by  lot,  82;  by  hot  iron, 
83;  by  the  Psalter,  84. 

Orestes,  commander  of  German  mer- 
cenaries, 51. 

Orleans,  resists  assault  of  Attila,  43; 
Merovingian  capital,  68. 

Osnabriick,  Saxon  bishopric,  205. 

Ostrogoths,  25;  in  the  army  of  At- 
tila, 43;  occupy  Italy,  52-55;  de- 
stroyed as  a  nation  by  Justinian, 
56-57 ;  Arian  Christians,  56. 

Paderborn,  first  Saxon  Maifield  at, 
197;  second,  198;  capitulary  of, 
199,  201;  Saxon  bishopric,  205. 

Papacy, Roman ;  its  origin,  102 ;  causes 
of  its  development,  103-104;  under 
the  barbarians,  108;  in  alliance 
with  Franks,  65-66,  113,  161;  rela- 
tion to  Imperial  government,  130; 
threatened  by  Lombards,  130;  ap- 
peals to  Charles  Martel,  133;  de- 
fended by  Franks,  167-171. 


266 


INDEX. 


Paris,  escapes  destruetion  by  Attila, 
4:'.. 

Passau,  bishopric  of,  132. 

"Patricius"  of  Rome,  conferred  on 
Pippin,  171;  on  Charlemagne,  189. 

Patrick,  Saint,  his  mission  to  Ire- 
land, 110. 

Paulus  Diaconus,  Lombard  historian, 
48,  58,  229. 

Pavia,  Lombard  capital,  besieged  by- 
Pippin,  168;  captured  by  Charle- 
magne, 185. 

Peasantry,  German,  development  of, 
240. 

Persians,  2 ;  enemies  of  Rome,  10. 

Personality  of  law,  75 ;  its  effect 
upon  conquests,  70;  illustrated  in 
Aquitaine,  177. 

Peter,  founder  of  Roman  papacy,  103. 

Petrine  supremacy,  argument  for, 
107. 

Pippin  of  Heristal,  major  domus  of 
Austrasia,  119. 

Pippin  of  Landen,  major  domus  to 
Dagobert,  118. 

Pippin  the  Short,  son  of  Martel,  125; 
conquers  Bavaria,  159;  king  of  the 
Franks,  162;  consecrated  by  Ste- 
phen, 166;  first  expedition  to  Italy, 
167;  second,  168;  donation  to  the 
papacy,  168-169;  its  real  meaning, 
170-171.  Pippin  the  Short,  his 
strong  position,  172 ;  conquers  Aqui- 
taine, 174-175 ;  divides  his  kingdom, 
178;  his  great  services  to  Europe, 
178-179. 

Placidia,  daughter  of  Theodosius, 
marries  Adolf  the  Visigoth,  34; 
guardian  of  her  son  Valentinian 
II.,  50. 

Pliny  the  Younger,  his  letter  to  Tra- 
jan, 94. 

Poeta  Saxo,  historian  of  the  Franks, 
192. 

Pollentia,  battle  of,  29. 

Pope,  origin  of  the  name. 

Prague,  bishopric  of,  226. 

Precarium,  form  of  land  tenure,  175. 

Procopius,  historian  of  Justinian,  35. 


Quadi,  24. 

Rachis,  king  of  Lombards,  threatens 
Ravenna,  abdicates  and  enters 
Monte  Cassino,  164;  tries  to  rule 
again,  172. 

Regensburg,  bishopric  of,  132. 

Renunciation  of  the  Devil,  formula 
for,  155. 

Rhine,  boundary,  12. 

Ricimer,  a  Sueve,  minister  of  the 
West,  50. 

Ripuarian  Franks,  63-64. 

Roland,  count  of  Brittany,  211. 

Roman  government;  the  republic,  4- 
7;  the  empire,  7-10. 

Roman  law,  its  absoluteness,  76;  in 
contrast  with  the  German,  77. 

Romans,  their  origin,  4;  countries 
occupied  by  them,  12;  their  man- 
ner of  life,  13;  immorality,  17; 
hired  armies,  18. 

Rome,  besieged  and  captured  by 
Alaric,  30-31;  plundered  by  Van- 
dals, 38;  duchy  of,  58;  gradual 
decline  as  seat  of  government. 

Romulus  Augustulus,  last  emperor 
of  the  West,  51. 

Roncesvalles,  Pass  of,  212. 

Rosamond,  queen  of  Lombards,  58. 

Saint  Gall,  monk  of;  his  account  of 
Charlemagne  before  Pavia,  183- 
185. 

Salian  Franks,  63;  defeat  a  Roman 
garrison  at  Soissons,  64;  conquer 
Alemanni  at  Strassburg,  64;  con- 
verted to  Catholic  Christianity,  65 ; 
alliance  with  Rome,  66;  subdue 
Burgundy,  66;  occupy  Aquitaine, 
67. 

Salic  law,  63. 

Salzburg,  bishopric  of,  132;  arch- 
bishopric, 226. 

Saxons,  24. 

Saxon  war,  191-205;  sources  wholly 
Frankish,  192;  character  of  the 
war,  193;  miraculous  legends,  195; 
difficulties  of  occupation,  196. 


INDEX. 


267 


Saxony,  land  and  people,  190;  no 
political  division,  191-192;  growth 
of  Frankish  influence  in,  197; 
brought  under  Frankish  legisla- 
tion, 199-200;  becomes  Christian, 
203;  new  bishoprics  in,  204-205. 

Scola  Palatina,  228. 

Sicharius,  Frankish  freeman;  his 
feud,  85-87. 

Slavery  among  the  Romans,  17. 

Soissons,  battle  of,  64;  Merovingian 
capital,  68,  70. 

Sorbi,  Slavonic  people,  209. 

Spanish  Mark,  conquered  by  Charle- 
magne, 211. 

States  of  the  Church,  beginning  of, 
169;  dangers  of,  170. 

Stephen,  pope,  goes  to  Gaul  for 
Frankish  help  against  Lombards, 
165-166;  letters  to  Pippin,  167;  pro- 
tests against  the  Lombard  mar- 
riage, 181. 

Stilicho,  minister  of  Theodosius,  28; 
defeats  Alaric  at  Pollentia,  29; 
murdered  by  Honorius,  30. 

Strassburg,  battle  of,  64. 

Sturm,  abbot  of  Fulda,  146,  149. 

Subinfeudation,  247. 

Suevi,  the,  35. 

Syagrius,  Roman  commander  at  the 
battle  of  Soissons,  64. 

Symmachus,  Roman  scholar  at  the 
court  of  Theodoric,  56. 

Tassilo,  duke  of  Bavaria,  vows  alle- 
giance to  Pippin,  173;  declares  his 
independence,  177 ;  renews  his  oath 
to  Charlemagne;  breaks  it,  207; 
conquered  and  made  a  monk,  208; 
treasonable  relations  with  Avars, 
210. 

Temporal  power  of  the  papacy,  its 
origin,  104;  donation  of  Constan- 
tine,  168;  of  Charlemagne,  187. 

Testry,  battle  of,  119. 

Teutoburg  Forest,  battle  of,  23. 

Theodolinda,  queen  of  the  Lombards, 
converts  them  to  orthodoxy,  59. 

Theodoric,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths, 


53-56 ;  helps  Visigoths  against 
Franks,  67. 

Theodoric,  king  of  the  Visigoths,  at 
Chalons,  43. 

Theodoric,  son  of  Clovis,  69. 

Theodoric  IV.,  Frankish  king  of  Bur- 
gundy, 129. 

Theodosius,  emperor,  his  policy 
toward  the  barbarians,  28. 

Theodosius  II.,  Eastern  emperor,  49. 

Theodulf,  Frankish  poet,  230. 

Thuringia,  annexed  to  Frankland,  69. 

Tours,  battle  of,  127-128;  importance 
of,  129. 

Treves,  archbishopric  of,  226. 

Trivium  and  Quadrivium,  143. 

Ulfilas,  the  apostle  of  the  Goths,  19. 

Valens,  emperor,  defeated  and  killed 
by  the  Visigoths  at  Adrianople,  27. 

Valentinian  III.,  Western  emperor, 
50. 

Vandals,  their  origin  and  journey 
into  Spain,  35-36;  enter  Africa 
and  capture  Carthage,  37 ;  plunder 
Rome,  38. 

Vassalage,  243-245;  combined  with 
landholding,  245. 

Venice,  its  foundation,  45. 

Verden,  massacre  at,  201;  Saxon 
bishopric,  205. 

Victor  Emmanuel,  the  successor  of 
Aistulf,  167. 

Visigoths,  25;  receive  Dacia  from 
Aurelian,  25;  their  journey  south- 
ward, 26;  defeat  the  Romans  at 
Adrianople,  27;  under  Alaric,  28; 
invade  Greece,  29;  defeated  at  Pol- 
lentia in  Italy,  29;  capture  Rome, 
31;  move  on  into  Spain  and  Gaul, 
33;  found  a  permanent  kingdom 
there,  34;  take  part  in  the  battle 
of  Chalons,  44. 

Wadi  Bekka,  battle  of,  126. 
Wager  of  battle,  83-84. 
Waifar,  duke  of  Aquitaine,  174. 
Wergeld,  87. 


268 


INDEX. 


Whitby,  council  of,  112. 

Widukind,  Saxon  leader,  198,  201, 
202;  surrenders  and  is  baptized, 
203. 

Widukind  of  Corbei,  Saxon  histo- 
rian, 192. 

Wilzi,  Slavonic  people,  209. 


Xeres    de    la    Frontera, 
Bekka. 


see   Wadi 


Zacharias,  pope,  saves  the  Exarchate 

from  the  Lombards,  163-164. 
Zeno,  Eastern  emperor,  49. 
Zosimus,  Greek  historian,  22. 


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